


Winter Falls

by RogueTiger



Series: Purgatory and Bitten [3]
Category: Original Work, Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Dreamwalking, F/F, Frost Giant, Jötnar, Purgatory, Skinwalker, Vampires, bitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2018-12-14 20:41:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 47
Words: 79,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11791059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueTiger/pseuds/RogueTiger
Summary: Nicole Haught is on a routine patrol when she pulls over a speeding motorbike.  The rider, Sinn (ex-Vampire hunter and soulmate/fiancée of the vampire queen, Yoanna), claims to have been whisked all the way from Bitten, Virginia to Purgatory in snowy Canada.  Weakened by demonic forces, Yoanna joins Sinn in Purgatory but unable to return home as both towns are sealed in by massive snow storms that threaten to grow and consume everything, Sinn and Yoanna team up with Nicole and BBD to work out what dragged Sinn there and what evil is lurking in the forest.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The version of Nicole and the others that I wrote for Dream Lover http://archiveofourown.org/works/11693631/chapters/26326956 and Sinn from... well... Sinn http://archiveofourown.org/works/11720361/chapters/26400204, decided they wanted to spend some time together (not in a sexual way as both are very much in love with their respective partners).
> 
> This is set after Baron Semedi (secret Wayhaught shipper) interferes and gets Nicole to remember to put on her BPV because she is needed to help and protect Waverly from events to come. The goo has started to take control of Waverly but Nicole is still smarting from been kept out of the loop with all the Supernatural BS and doesn't realise how vital their love is in fighting off it's control.
> 
> Intending this to be a short one but last time i thought that it ended up 25 chapters. My muses just refused to shut up though and wanted to mess me around. Others from Purgatory and Bitten may get involved depending on how it wants to go. There will though be no cross story kissy, kissy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Edited and updated, 12th July 2018.

Nicole stabbed a gloved finger at the heating control of her cruiser, begging and cursing at her 2006 Crown Victoria to give her a little more heat before she became a victim of the delights that was Purgatory in winter or, as Sheriff Nedley had put it when he had put her on speed trap duty on one of the furthest edges of town; ‘It’s just a cold snap, Nicole. One that will have those damn fools speeding to get home and when they do I want you there to stop them… So, go get them, Haught!’

Despite the Sheriff’s fairly convincing pep talk… until she had heard the childish giggles and rare look of sympathy from the bullpen that let her know that as the rookie she had drawn the short straw again, the only thing that had sped past Nicole was skittering’s of snow blowing across the road at the whim of the breeze that sliced straight through the car, her breath every time the heating threatened to fail… and her will to live that was quickly following.

Hearing the whine of the AC, Nicole holds her hands out to the vents as a blessed and very welcome burst of nearly hot air flowed out and warmed her enough so she could unscrew the top of her thermos of hot chocolate and not run the risk of shaking and throwing it down her uniform.

A flash of light caught the rear-view mirror of her cruiser but before Nicole could fully lift her head to focus on it, a motorbike roared out of nowhere, flashing inches off removing her wing mirror as it streaked by.

“What in the hell is she doing?”

Even as the device sitting on her dash flashed up with a reading that was nearly three times the speed limit, Nicole seriously considered letting the black leather-clad biker just get away. It would certainly be easier if she did so rather than having to face Wynonna Earp’s sharp tongue for trying to ticket her when she was carrying her BBD badge that Wynonna seemed to think meant she could get away with everything even when fall-down drunk. And of course, it was all sure to get back to Waverly and then Nicole would be faced with a look of disappointment on her beautiful face and Nicole was weak in the face of that look.

Sighing, Nicole screwed the top back on her thermos as the big black bike fishtailed wildly on the snowy road. There was no way she could ignore that even if she wanted too. “Damn it, Wynonna!” The eldest Earp had promised them faithfully that she was staying off the booze that early in the day but it looked like she’d slipped, big time too if she thought Nicole was going to just let her drive off dangerously and get herself killed.

With a shake of her head, Nicole called it in over the radio that she was on the move and pulled out behind the bike. As soon as she got the cruiser steady on the icy road, Nicole flashed her lights at Wynonna and gave a little warning burst from the sirens. Wynonna’s head turned just a little, her dark hair streaming out from underneath her helmet as she obviously glanced into her mirror and then checked over her shoulder.

Knowing Wynonna, she was probably working out who was in the cruiser and if she could get away with it, Nicole decided. Giving another slightly longer blast with the siren, Nicole let the other woman know she was busted and watched as Wynonna obediently, if belatedly, slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road in a move that had Nicole nodding appreciatively even though Wynonna was the first bit of traffic that had passed her all shift.

Climbing out of the relative warmth of her cruiser, Nicole pulled the collar up on her padded uniform jacket for protection against the frigid Canadian air. She cursed the long assed winters there as she pulled her cap on and tugged it down firmly. At least her new uniform was less bulky and had more thermal protection against the cold than the old one. Those fugly khaki’s the Sheriff liked to refer to as a ‘classic trouser’ were no protection even against a stiff breeze but the past week had been cold to the point that Nicole was sure that ten layers of uniform wouldn’t be enough to hold back the cold.

“Earp! What in the hell are you playing at?! Waverly is going to kill you!”

Nicole’s feet stuttered on the road, her body jolting in shock as two things became obvious to her at the same moment. Firstly, the tag on the bike wasn’t, Wynonna’s, it wasn’t even from their province or even Canadian at all… Virginia? What was someone from Virginia doing all the way up in Canada riding like a bat out of hell in ice? And secondly, the woman revealed by the unusually slow and careful removal of her helmet… that… wasn’t Wynonna nor anyone else that Nicole knew from the area.

The hair was dark but whereas Wynonna’s was a dark brunette that usually flew around in a riot of thick waves, this other woman’s was darker. The phrase ‘black as a raven’s wing’ sprang to Nicole’s mind. And it was sleeker than Wynonna’s as it fell in a dark silken shimmer that reached just below her leather clad shoulders.

Hand falling to her utility belt, her fingers brushing against her weapon out of habit as much as from training, Nicole kept moving forwards in a stride that was long but unhurried. It still seemed like overkill to be so cautious of a simple traffic stop but, even if she didn’t live in a town that was literally full of demons, even the most routine task such as walking up to a car could turn nasty anywhere in the world.

And this woman, despite having done nothing, exuded danger that had Nicole’s senses tingling on high alert.

“Hi, would you mind turning off your engine for me?” Nicole voiced it as a question, her voice at a nice even volume and pitch, rather than an order in the hope that it would keep the dark-haired woman calm until Nicole could work out why she felt so wary about her.

The woman never turned to look at Nicole and seemed more interested in looking at the snow-covered fields and the view of the Rockies beyond. A stunning sight to be sure but not the behaviour of anyone the least bit innocent.

“Ma’am! Switch your engine off, now, please?”

The biker reached out an elegant hand, keeping her movements almost ridiculously slow and even as she turned the bike off. The silence with the well-tuned, throaty purr of the powerful bike gone was deafening and Nicole fought the urge to flex her jaw to make sure her ears hadn’t popped.

Taking a step closer now that the engine was still and the threat of her trying to ride off had been negated for the moment, Nicole checked the woman and her ride out. Just looking at her outfit made Nicole shiver. She was not dressed for the weather and Nicole wondered how she had managed to get out there to the middle of nowhere without freezing to death.

“Ma’am, could I ask you to get off your bike now, please? Have you any idea how fast you were going?” she questioned as the woman did as she had asked and carefully swung her leg back as she climbed off her bike.

Just like every movement from her so far, it was done so slowly and precisely as though the unknown woman was worried she would trigger a lethal reaction from her. Yeah, sure, some bad Cops had tarred them all with a reputation of violence and over-reaction that was difficult to shake but… it just put Nicole more on edge with how she was still keeping her face averted.

Eyes running up and down the biker’s body, Nicole took a quick note of everything about her. She looked to be around five-foot-five… just a bit taller than Waverly. For god’s sake! Nicole berated herself for comparing a stranger up against the image permanently in her mind of the woman she loved.

“How fast?” she gave a wry chuckle. “I ain’t even got an idea on where the hell I am right now.”

“You don’t know?” Nicole frowned at what the woman had said and the strange way her softly spoken words shifted accent from Virginian to a Texas drawl and eventually went a touch Canadian as the accents crawled back and forth across the states like they were travelling across a map in the woman’s mind. “Would you mind coming over to my vehicle with me?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Officer.”

“Haught,” Nicole supplied to distract and focus the woman back onto her even though she hadn’t asked for her name. It worked, the woman’s shoulders stiffened more ever so slightly and then relaxed, releasing the tension Nicole had sensed building within her.

“What?”

“Officer Nicole Haught, that’s my name.” Nicole tried to get a better look at the woman’s face as her eyes flickered her way in dawning amusement but she was stubbornly good at keeping her profile turned away and all Nicole was left with was the impression of a razor-sharp jawline, high cheekbones and stunning green as her eyes darted her way briefly.

“Haught, huh?”

Nicole heard the smile in her voice and saw the corner of her mouth quirk up a little. She half expected the woman to break into some Wynonna-esque quips about her name but the woman stayed silent for a long moment that had Nicole wondering if she was going to have to force the issue.

“Fuck! It’s cold here!”

“Well if you come with me to my—”

“Officer Haught,” she interrupted. “Full disclosure. I haven’t any I.D. on me at all and I’m packing a serious amount of heat right now… Which I have the right to carry but no intention of using! I just would hate for you to spot anything and shoot me in the ass!” Glancing over her shoulder she looked at the hand still hovering near Officer Haught’s sidearm.

“I haven’t got any I.D. on me ‘cause just before you pulled me over… Well, I was riding out to meet my… someone for lunch… in Virginia. And until I work out just how in the hell I managed to end up ass deep in snow all the way up in… Canada? Feels like Canada. I’m not getting in your car or going anywhere with anyone.”

Her voice stayed calm-ish. Intense but pleasant. Aww shucks ma’am, I’m just a regular gun-toting citizen but I can’t prove it right now. Before she had become a Sheriff’s Deputy in Purgatory, Nicole would have just thought the woman was high on drugs but… this was Purgatory and weird shit was standard operating procedure.

Hell, her girlfriend’s big sister, Wynonna Earp, carried a big-ass magical gun that sent demons to hell and was the heir of a curse laid upon her Great-Grandfather, Wyatt Earp that passed down his bloodline to Wynonna when she had turned twenty-seven.

Waverly, beautiful, smart as a whip, Waverly Earp, her girlfriend, had recently admitted that she didn’t think she was an Earp at all or even human. But no matter what Bobo or any DNA results said, Nicole stood firmly behind her opinion that Waverly was the Earpiest, Earp. She was the glue that kept Wynonna from going off the rails and was a steadying force in all their lives.

Then there was Deputy Marshall Dolls, a former soldier with the dog tags on him at all times to prove it, and now with the Black Badge Division. Nicole was unclear as to what that meant above giving him a licence to be a dick when they’d first met. He was, according to Wynonna, some kind of tiny, sexy dragon. Which was another thing that Nicole was unclear about.

And then there was John Henry Holliday, Doc to most. In Doc’s own words, ‘Yes, that Doc Holliday’. Ancient gunslinger, dentist and the best friend of Wyatt Earp’s who had been trapped down a well for over a hundred years by a Witch after she had made him immortal.

And that was just the people in Purgatory that Nicole knew personally and didn’t include the Witches, Revenants, Skinwalkers and god alone knew what else there was.

Normal in Purgatory was definitely much different than anywhere else. So for someone to be suddenly transported from all the way across the width of America and into Canada wasn’t really a huge stretch of the imagination. But, Nicole also didn’t want to be the Officer that let a weapon-toting serial killer go free because they spun of good tale either.

No matter what crazy went on she prided herself on being a good Cop.

“I’m afraid that I’m going to have to insist. Please, just get in my car and we can work this out real quick and get you on your way.” Nicole kept her voice firm but reasonable just how she had been taught in the Academy.

Insist but keep it calm.

Make every command more a question.

Make them feel like they’ve got a choice even though they don’t.

“Could you tell me your name? I could look it up on the computer and confirm your details.”

“Not going to give up, huh, Haught?”

There was a kind of resigned humour in the biker’s voice so Nicole answered in kind, keeping her tone light but firm. “With how fast you were going? Nope. Now, for the last time, please, get in the car.”

Nicole edged around the raven-haired woman but even though it earned her a bit more of a glimpse of her face, she still she kept her eyes averted. And that made Nicole anxious. Her voice hadn’t once gotten that otherworldly, gravely tone going like it did when a Revenant revealed who they were by their eyes going black and red but the way this woman was hiding… she either had a serious phobia about looking at people or she was hiding something else about herself that they would reveal.

“Sinn.”

“What?” Nicole frowned in confusion.

“My name… is, Sinn. Two N’s not one.”

“Sinn? And everyone gives me shit over, Haught,” she grimaced slightly as a million and one puns on her name that had been thrown at her, many of them from Wynonna, came to her. She’s heard them all over the years from everyone apart from Waverly, who managed to say it in a way that made Nicole blush.

Nicole worried for a second that she might have crossed a line with Sinn with her words but the woman’s lips curved again, a wry chuckle of shared pun-pain filling the air. The chuckle and smile quickly faded though as Sinn’s attention shifted to the side almost dismissively again.

“Well… Sinn… last time… get in the car.” Nicole slid her hand closer to her weapon, letting her fingers brush against the butt of it. The motion was small and none threatening but even though Sinn had her back to her, Nicole saw the stiffening across her shoulders that said she knew exactly what she had done.

“Okay,” Sinn sighed, not seeing a way out right then that wouldn’t end up going south. “Before I do… When you see my eyes, could you do me a favour, Officer Haught and try not to shoot me? I’m not a threat but I’m too far from her and can’t seem to get them under control right now.”

The fact that Sinn had stressed her name and title to remind her what she was didn’t go unnoticed by Nicole. This was a woman used to being on the wrong side of the law. “Sinn, turn around,” Nicole ordered quietly.

Holding her hands out from her sides, Sinn slowly turned on the spot and raised her eyes and took the other woman fully.

The redheaded Officer looked to be around the same age as herself but the open, earnest look on her face made Sinn feel ancient in comparison. The way she barely even moved her fingers where they rested on her weapon still made her wonder if she was even more naive than she looked or if the shadow that passed behind her wide brown eyes was from seeing more than a small town Cop would have normally been witness too.

For some reason, Sinn was betting it was the latter and she’d grown to trust her instincts.

Nicole stared in wonder at the brilliant sheen of liquid metal wrought into the most brilliant green eyes she had ever seen. Drawn by them, she took a half step forward for a closer look.

“You’re not a Revenant,” their eyes were straight from the pits of hell they kept getting sent back too. Sinn’s eyes… well, Nicole knew what they looked like, but the woman was too calm to be a Vampire in the grip of hunger. “You’re not a Vampire either, are you?”

Sinn smiled softly, pleasantly surprised that Officer Haught hadn’t overreacted about her eyes not surprised that the Officers reasoning had headed quickly to Vampires. It was what most people thought when they saw her eyes turned with power.

“No, I’m not a Vampire. What are Revenants? I haven’t heard that term before,” and she had researched just about every form of ‘supernatural’ being there was… or she’d thought she had.

“That’s a long story but, short version as far as I can gather… Revenants are the resurrected demon forms of the seventy-seven outlaws Wyatt Earp sent to hell.” Wow. That felt strangely good to say outside of someone in the loop and for some reason she felt comfortable revealing it to Sinn.

“Whoa… demons, huh? Okay.” Demons were actually a rarity for her. “But no, whilst I have no love for the Church, I’m not from down _there_ either. Though it would be preferable to this cold right now!” Sinn grumbled. “I think my ass is about to get frostbite.”

“Well, if you would have gotten in my car already,” Nicole pointed out with a soft dimpled smile and a pointed nod in the direction of her waiting vehicle and the shelter and hopefully warmth it offered against the elements and lack of appropriate clothing Sinn was wearing.

Sinn was left blinking at the unexpected joy that spread through her as Haught’s dimples and a brilliant smile lit up her world. Calling her an adorable puppy probably wouldn’t go down well so Sinn showed some restraint for a change and kept the thought to herself.

Yoanna would be proud… and would have teased her about it if she’d been there. A thought that made Sinn sigh internally.

Really though, it was an adorable smile. Shaking her head, Sinn obeyed Nicole’s pointed gesture and walked ahead of her towards her waiting squad car. She ran her eyes over it, running through the specs of the vehicle in her mind, working out its strengths and weaknesses just in case.

“If you’re not Vampire or Revenant… what are you to have eyes like that?”

“Just… Sinn.”

The wicked half smile Sinn gave her over her shoulder had Nicole believing that the woman had the perfect name as, consciously or not, it seemed designed to make a person think sinful thoughts. In Nicole’s case though she had a strange sensation of wanting to trust her warring with wariness.

“Well, just Sinn… you mentioned weapons. Any chance you’ll just hand them over so we can get out of the cold?” Start easy, get as many as she could willingly, then insist on a pat-down search.

Opening up her car, Nicole grabbed an evidence envelope and held it out to Sinn. The way Sinn looked at it and gave an amused chuckle had the wariness rising within her again.

“You’re going to need something a little bigger than that, Officer Haught?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Chapter edited and updated 12th July 2018.

Sinn felt the punch of displaced air stirring her hair at the back of her head as the Officer closed the trunk behind her in a way that sounded like an accusation. And damned if it didn’t make her feel guilty even if she had actually done nothing wrong beyond getting somehow instantly transported from her home in Virginia all the way to Canada.

Magic was probably responsible for her displacement… it had to be… right? The Fae tunnels at the mansion could move them in such a way, and over greater distances, but that was a tunnel, not riding down the road with her home and love in sight and the next thing been faced with the endless white of snow.

Feet crunched determinedly in the snow as the Officer moved around and opened the driver’s door to slip behind the wheel. Sinn sighed softly as the redhead took off her cap and sat there for a moment, simply staring out of the windscreen.

If she was expecting her to break and admit something she was going to have a long wait! She had been tortured by the best and the only one that could get secrets out of her with a glance was Yoanna.

Sinn guessed she couldn’t blame Haught for her shock and decision to put her in the back seat of the squad car whilst she had secured her weapons in the trunk. The Officer had been pretty chill about her eyes and their metallic glow but the sheer number of weapons she had handed over had apparently been too much for her to take.

Yoanna and Ella, hell everyone that knew her or had had to pat her down for weapons always told her she carried too many. Though that opinion usually changed when the inevitable shit hit the fan and they were all needed to get them out of whatever the situation was.

Staring at the back of Officer Haught’s head, Sinn waited her out with more patience than she was feeling. She wasn’t sure what the fuck had happened, how the road to Bitten had vanished in a blaze of white light that had righted itself into a snowy Canadian wilderness, but Sinn wanted to go home.

She wanted to be back on that road, minutes away from Yoanna’s arms, ready to celebrate their one year anniversary together. Sinn hated to be away from her love, it hurt, physically hurt, to be parted for too long. If she wanted, Sinn knew she could just push the door open with ease by digging her fingers in and simply peeling it back.

The advantage of having the strength of a Vampire.

At least, Sinn mused, flexing her hand as she studied her fingers, she thought she could.

There was something about this place, or just been parted from Yoanna, that had her feeling like it was eating away at the control she prided herself in. A control she had felt slip as her eyes had gone full metallic and a lassitude that invaded her limbs.

Her eyes had been metallic since she had started sharing power and blood with Yoanna. But usually, her eyes were something that was under her control, though it was something she’d had to work for. But no matter how much she had tried to get them back to a more acceptable, out-amongst-the-humans level, they continued to shine.

As for her strength, she was no longer human strength, though Sinn wasn’t sure if she had never really been that. Usually, she was stronger than most Werewolves and even most Vampires. Usually.

Really, the only one that could best her in speed and strength, and who took great delight in doing so when they trained together, was Yoanna. She was the only one that was faster or stronger than her and had six-thousand years of training under her belt to help.

Right then though, Sinn wasn’t entirely sure if using that strength to attempt an escape would just end in bruised knuckles or the squad car been flipped for miles with how she was feeling.

If Sinn had been alone, or in danger, she would have done it in a split second but there was Nicole, Officer Haught to think about. Who had been surprisingly patient even while Sinn knew she had probably seemed belligerent while trying to work out what the hell was going on.

Turning in her seat, Nicole studied the woman intently.

Her eyes were shining even brighter, catching the light as the sun bounced off the snow outside. She was beautiful, stunning, but looking at her, Nicole felt like a young kid on her first visit to the zoo again. Peering eagerly into the panther enclosure for a glimpse of the big cats and then green eyes had caught hers from between the trees and a shadow had unfurled itself from the branches. The predator had done nothing more than pace around its too small prison but for young Nicole, it had been too much and she had buried her face against her father’s shoulder.

As a kid, Nicole had felt nothing but the coiled danger in the panther’s every move, waiting for the chance to break out of its cage and she felt the same looking at Sinn. That tingle along her spine that raised the hair on the back of her neck and told her that not even the thick Plexiglas designed to separate the front and back of the car would be enough if things turned nasty.

Nicole considered calling Wynonna or Dolls but… well, she still wasn’t completely sure that she trusted the man or the people he worked for and Sinn had done nothing apart from making her nervous and that hardly warranted bringing in Dolls or Wynonna and her big gun and losing what was the most interesting thing to happen to her on duty for ages.

“That was a hell of a lot of weapons there, Sinn.”

“Yeah. Kind of need them back too if I could have a receipt. Sorry,” Sinn quickly held up her hands in apology. “Sorry, weird assed sense of humour,” she sighed. “Keep forgetting I’m not at home where it doesn’t rub everyone up the wrong way. Just kind of antsy to get back to home… supposed to be date night and it’s our anniversary too.” Not to mention the fact that Yoanna more than likely knew she was gone and was probably scared half to death.

Nicole grimaced in sympathy. She knew all too well what it was like to have her time with Waverly interrupted by work, demons, Witches and Wynonna… mostly by Wynonna to start with but she was getting better at respecting their personal boundaries with only the occasional ‘Ew!! Gross!!’ when she caught them unawares.

“Okay, well not sure if you could make it home in time for your date… even if you kept going as fast as you were. But if it all checks out okay you can get your weapons back. Don’t think I’m letting you off for that speeding though. Wherever you supposedly started off… you were going too fast.”

“I’ve got good reflexes… usually,” trailing off, Sinn rubbed at the back of her neck as a wave of weakness struck and everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

“Do I need to breathalyse you too?” Nicole was only half teasing as she watched Sinn sway alarmingly. “Hey, are you okay?” Teasing turned to concern as Sinn’s face went as pale as the snow blanketing the ground. “Hey?! Shit!” Throwing open her door, Nicole quickly climbed into the back seat with the woman as her eyes rolled back in her head. Gently supporting her head as she slumped down, Nicole made care to ease her around on to her side with her head propped against her lap as green eyes flickered and rolling back and forth in her head.

Fingers to the pulse at Sinn’s throat, Nicole sighed in relief to find it beating strongly. “Sinn? Sinn, can you hear me?”

“Please tell me you didn’t just lock us both in the back seat?”

The groaned words came so quietly that if Nicole hadn’t been looking at Sinn’s mouth she would have thought it was her own guilty conscience talking. “Fudgenuggets!”

Rubbing the back of her neck, Sinn tried to extract herself from the Officers lap but moving was beyond her right then so she settled for turning on to her back as the first stage for getting upright and looked up into the relieved face above her. “Fudgenuggets?”

Nicole grinned sheepishly. “My girlfriend isn’t one to swear too often. Think I’m picking up some of her more unusual improvising.”

Bracing a hand against Sinn’s shoulder, Nicole helped her sit back up. She was still as pale as the driven snow but at least she didn’t look like she was going to keel over at any second.

“I need to reconnect with mine.”

“Your?”

“Girlfriend… well, Fiancée.”

“Is that why you were having a date night?”

“Not that kind of reconnect,” chewing her lip, Sinn studied the redhead and wondered just how much weirdness she would be willing to take. “We’ve got a kind of unique connection and been apart is not good, not like that. Okay, you seem like a good Cop… even though you got yourself locked back here with me… I want to trust you but what I’m about to tell you is going to sound really strange and…”

“You don’t want me to shoot you?”

“Exactly,” Sinn chuckled softly.

“I’m a Hunter… You know what that is, right?” A widening of eyes and a quick nod at the revelation that she was part of a secretive but very powerful organisation that hunted and killed rogue Vampires, Werewolves and just about everything the regular organisations couldn’t handle, were her answer. “Got all the paperwork in my other jacket. Vampires, Werewolves and other nasty shit like that. I- I was _taught_ that they were all evil and had to be destroyed but, well, my fiancée… is kind of the Queen of all the Vampires, Yoanna. And most of my friends are the kind of people I would have been sent to kill before.”

The way Sinn’s whole demeanour softened at the name of her love, made Nicole like her a little more. That amount of love was impossible to fake and on the off chance it was an act, Nicole felt that most women would have dreamed up someone of the opposite sex… even though she had been the first one to mention having a female partner. “So, a Queen? Actual royalty?”

“Yep, though she generally hates the title unless she’s using it to put someone in their place.” Taking a deep breath, Sinn filled Nicole in on their history while trying not to give anything away that might put Yoanna in danger. There was a book out all about their history; Vampires and Hunters, but it had been dismissed and treated as fiction and not history.

Strangely, Sinn felt she could trust Nicole with what she was telling her and more but she didn’t trust for there to be no one around that couldn’t overhear and try to use what she was saying against them.

Yoanna was one of the first Vampires ever created. She wasn’t born by a bite but by the will of the Fae who decided they wanted to try their hand and making something better than the humans that walked the earth.

As well as Vampires, they had created companions to live and learn with them, being with powers they shared with the Vampires.

They lived amongst normal humans peacefully but the Churches grew to fear and hate them and set out to kill and destroy them. When it was all said and done, Yoanna was the only original Vampire left and the companions that were left had been stolen away and forced to become Hunters and turned against the ones that had once loved.

Most of that was in the book but there was so much more but Sinn kept it short and sweet as she’d never really felt comfortable revealing what was really personal history even though it had taken place so very long ago.

“Wow!” Nicole tried not to gawp at all the information but she felt like her eyes were about to bug out of her head. “And I thought, Purgatory was quirky. Not that anyone seems to notice anything here.”

“They’re all denial, huh? People are like that, unwilling to notice what’s really going on so they don’t have to do anything or pull their heads out of their asses. Just look what happened with that flying saucer in New York last year.”

“The what!?!” Nicole squeaked out.

“Kidding!” Sinn chuckled. “Just wanted to see that cute shocked expression again.”

“Cute? I should arrest you just for that. I guess I better call this in,” she sighed as an experimental nudge at the door… for the fifth time… proved it to be just as locked as her other tries. “I would call Waves but…” sighing, Nicole let her words and thoughts fade away. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she knew that B.B.D. was busy sorting some kind of problem or another out to do with Revenants of some other Demon though what that was she would probably only hear about after the fact.

Hand moving she reached for the radio on her left shoulder only to feel her hand gently but firmly restrained. Glancing down she looked at the long fingers wrapped around her wrist and cocked her brow questioningly at Sinn.

“I can get us out without you having to do that… and without breaking the door too if this works.”

“If what works?” Nicole asked cautiously, suddenly warily optimistic at the thought that there might be a way out that wouldn’t end with her being the butt of every joke for her attempt to help ending with her being locked in the back of her own car with a woman that was carrying enough weapons to supply an army… albeit a smallish one.

“I can’t seem to reach out far enough to reach Yoanna else this would be much easier,” Sinn muttered more to herself than Nicole.

Even though it was a relatively new side to their power it should have been easy enough even without Yoanna’s help but her soul felt cleaved in half in a way that went deeper than just been apart and deeper than any wound… which was saying a lot considering she had died one time from a shotgun wound to her guts. None of which would bring much comfort to Nicole to hear so she kept that to herself.

“No matter what… try not to touch me for a minute… and yeah, it’s probably best to stay away from touching the doors too. Might zap you like a Taser.”

“Are you teasing me again?” Nicole asked cautiously.

“Maybe a little,” Sinn grinned. “But seriously, don’t touch.”

Holding up her hands, Nicole settled well away from the doors and the strange woman and just watched.

Sinn’s eyes glowed brighter, lighting the interior of the car with a swirl of green. Her brow furrowed in concentration and she held out a hand towards the door. Nicole had the feeling that gesturing wasn’t exactly necessary but as beads of sweat broke out across her brow, Nicole couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t just helping her to focus better.

From within the door, Nicole could hear the central locking clicking and grinding, and then the blessed sound of the doors clicking open.

Sinn ran a hand through her hair as she got out of the police car and felt the slap of cold air as it filled her lungs. Ignoring Nicole’s call, Sinn marched over to her bike and fished out the cell phone hidden under the tank. It was an old-fashioned flip phone but for some reason, it was actually usually more reliable at picking up a signal in areas a lot of smartphones had trouble with. “No bars,” she growled in disappointment.

Propping her hip against the seat of her bike, Sinn ignored everything and closed her eyes as she looked around with her powers. Weak as they were, they were still stronger than they had been when she was just simply a Hunter.

“Officer Haught…”

“Nicole,” she insisted as she walked towards Sinn’s bike ready to try and tackle her if she made any kind of move she didn’t like. Though, she hoped that wasn’t something she had to do as she didn’t really want to try jumping someone that could open up a car with whatever kind of powers they were.

“Nicole. Tell me what you know about, Purgatory. And in particular… that forest over there.”

Nicole followed the direction of Sinn’s firmly pointed finger and felt an involuntary, primal, shiver of pure fear run down her spine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Updated 13th July 2018

“Yeah,” Sinn wrapped her arms around herself, holding herself together, as she watched Nicole’s expressive face go through all the emotions she was feeling about the dark forest before them.

She had been so busy before trying to work out how to get her eyes back under control and deal with the absence of the reassuring strength of Yoanna’s mind and powers… something she loved a great deal… that she had forgotten to reach out to see beyond the Police car and the red-headed Officer that could well have been the source of her problems for all she knew.

Though, there was still a part of her that simply trusted her and said she had nothing to fear.

If she had paid it more attention like she was right then though, she would have sensed the disquiet pulsing off it in waves to render what looked like it should be a beautiful forest of towering trees into something that clawed at her insides just enough to make her want to avoid the hell out of the place and usually, much to Yoanna’s dismay, she was usually the first to run towards the danger.

“That does not feel like a good place,” Sinn muttered. “Not in the least.”

The longer she stared at it, the worse it became until the trees felt like they were moving, pulsing in and out with the beating of her heart, the shadows between the towering pine trees dripping like tar.

“Is there anywhere in town we could go for a drink?”

“What?” Nicole spun on her heel incredulously at the suddenness of Sinn’s question. Only when she saw Sinn remounting her bike with an easy grace did she realise that she had unintentionally moved away from her while she looked at the forest. And by then it was too late as Sinn was already pulling her helmet back on. “Hey! What are you…? I still haven’t checked you out yet!”

“Officer…Nicole, you’ve got most of my weapons still, I’m not leaving town without them.”

Nicole was sure that Sinn’s smile was supposed to be disarmingly pleasant but Nicole got stuck on one word. “Most? Hey, what do you mean, most?”

Sinn winked at the Officer and started her bike running. “Come on Officer Haught, buy me a drink and maybe we can work out just why I got yanked away from the arms of the woman I love.”

There it was again, that same softening in voice and posture as Sinn thought of her Yoanna that just made Nicole think about Waverly and how much she would do for her.

“Fine!” Nicole threw up her hands in defeat. “I’m due a break soon anyway. But… follow me… and no speeding!”

Nicole shook her head as Sinn gave her a jaunty salute of the two fingered, lesbian variety. It was movements like that, the odd flash of wicked humour, that made Nicole wonder just what she seemed to be walking into and if she wasn’t walking into it with an even more armed and dangerous version of Wynonna.

As she drove slowly past Sinn, Nicole kept half an eye on her as she typed her licence plate details into her department issue tablet ready to run the number from there as soon as they got an area with better signal rather than contacting dispatch.

Obviously, there was still no signal there as Sinn’s shoulders were slouched into a line of utter dejection as she looked at the phone in her hand. Rolling down her window she called out to her. “Sinn… Hey, reception is much better in town.”

Green eyes twinkled at her, too brilliant for even Sinn’s tinted visor to contain as she glanced her way. That twinkle shocked Nicole as she realised just how quickly she had gotten used to those unusual eyes and accepted them as normal.

With an eye on her rear-view mirror, she kept her pace slow and even and picked up speed only when she felt sure that Sinn wasn’t pulling a fast one and planned on turning her bike around. As Sinn had pointed out though, she had gotten a small fortune in custom made guns and knives off her. If she wanted them back she was either going to have to prove herself or… well, Nicole swallowed, the other option was to use whatever weapons she had claimed she still had on her to force her to hand them over.

As they crossed over the rail tracks into Purgatory, Nicole kept a slow and steady pace through the quiet streets. Normally the weather hardened locals didn’t let anything get in their way but the streets were almost silent and the few people that were out on them barely even lifted their heads to watch as she drove by. Which was unusual as to them, she was still new and an oddity to be gawked at even though she had taken the time to get to know most of them and their life stories.

She smiled at the sight of Waverly’s bright red Jeep Wrangler parked up outside the Purgatory Municipal Building that housed the Sheriff’s Department and the offices sequestered by Black Badge and had to resist the urge to pull up and see if she couldn’t find her girlfriend to steal a moment with her.

That urge to see her was a desire that was always there burning within Nicole, but it was more keen than usual, fuelled she was sure by Sinn missing the woman she loved just as much as she missed Waverly when they were apart.

Sinn waited until Nicole found a place to park before pulling into the open space alongside her cruiser. Taking off her helmet, she looked around under the guise of straightening her hair and waited for the redhead to join her.

“Quaint town. And I see what you mean about the quirky,” she added as Nicole stopped beside her.

There was nothing obviously off about the place yet from what she had seen, but there was a definite feeling there like there was something bubbling beneath the surface.

“Is coffee okay with you?”

“Anything to get some warmth into me,” she didn’t bother adding that she rarely drank when it came to alcohol as she just didn’t really like the thought of her senses being dulled. “Is it usually so damn cold here?”

Nicole chuckled wryly. “Well I don’t know from experience, haven’t been here long enough for that, but Waverly says it can get a whole hell of a lot worse. I think she just told me that so I would get more blankets in ready though.” Her girlfriend did love a good blanket pile especially if she played the part of bonus blanket for her.

“So, you’re not a local then?”

“Not of Purgatory. I ended up moving out here and join the academy after I left home.”

Nicole gave the now deserted Shorty’s Saloon a longing look, remembering fondly watching the ease with which Waverly worked behind the bar. It hadn’t been shut for long… and it was impossible to imagine that it would stay shut for long but there was something very sad about what was one of the small town’s main hubs being shut.

“Come on.” Keeping an eye on Sinn, Nicole led the way to the coffee shop across the road and through into a quiet booth at the back where hopefully Sinn’s eyes wouldn’t draw attention while they talked. “What would you like?”

“Depends on how good they are,” looking around, Sinn wasn’t holding out much hope on that. “I’m pretty easy when it comes to coffee though so just black will do.” Her heart soared as she heard her smartphone give a chime as it found a signal and start buzzing furiously as message after message came through from Yoanna as well as her best friend and fellow ex-Hunter, Ella, her Vampire husband, Marcus, her Werewolf friend, Mel, and even her husband Eric who was the head of security at the mansion.

“Oh boy, I better get some of these.”

“Would you mind waiting until I get back first?”

It was voiced so calmly, so sweetly and pleasant, but Sinn could hear the steel thread of command running through it. Apparently, her new ‘friend’ was only willing to trust her so far and apparently that was until they were within the town she was sworn to protect.

“Okay, whatever you want, Officer Haught.” Holding up her hands, Sinn made a show of putting her phone away.

Ignoring the look in Sinn’s eyes that clearly told her she was only willing to play along so far, Nicole walked up to the counter to place their order and checked out the information that was coming through on her tablet. The bike was all legit but the detail on its owner… It was… lacking in detail to the point that it made Nicole nervous by what it wasn’t saying about the woman waiting for her.

She was a licenced Hunter just about worldwide, with the exception of the UK. Which in itself was unusual. Licenced to carry as many weapons as she wanted no matter how legal or illegal they were in any state or country. Sinn was for all intense and purposes a woman with a licence to do whatever the fuck she wanted and kill whoever she wanted without anything coming back to stick on her.

Sinn was obviously a dangerous person to have anywhere… Nicole had worked that out already. But especially working against you and apparently, if Sinn was to be believed, she had given up most of it for love?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 13th July 2018.

As she waited for Nicole to make her way over to the booth, Sinn worked her phone back and forth between her fingers like a magician playing tricks with a coin and tried to avoid looking at all the texts and instant messages awaiting her as the screen flashed back and forth.

Just the one glimpse before Nicole had adorably put her foot down and she had felt all the pain pouring through Yoanna’s words without even opening them to see what she had written.

Blinking away the sting of tears, Sinn looked at the swirling black of the coffee Nicole had placed before her without her even realising she was there. Wrapping her hands around the cup to stop herself from slamming her fist against the table at yet further proof of how weakened she was and how much she relied on her powers and not the training she had had it drilled into her by harsh fists, she willed the warmth to seep into more than just her skin.

Seeing a shine of green reflected around her, Sinn closed her eyes and focused on trying to control and hide that part of herself. After a year of being with Yoanna and all the others at the mansion, it was harder than she had thought possible to wrap that side of herself back up and it wasn’t only because her powers were weaker. She had just grown accustomed to being herself.

Purgatory was an unknown to her though, so Sinn focussed and mourned the loss as her eyes dimmed. Lifting her head, Sinn looked at the redhead seated across from her. That far too open expression was still on her face but now it was laced with caution as she looked at her with wide, brown eyes that looked even darker than usual against the paleness of her skin.

A glance down and Sinn saw the screen on the tablet set close to her body as though Nicole wasn’t sure if she wanted to confront her on what she’d found out.

Picking up her coffee, Sinn took a cautious sip and looked at Nicole through the steam challengingly. “Interesting reading, huh?”

“I’ve seen worse.” Setting the tablet on the table, Nicole shuffled around on the hard seat while she tried to decide what was safe to ask. It was something she had been mulling over since she had looked at the reports and she was still no nearer to an answer. There was just so many facets to the woman… just sitting at the table as she was, her body looked relaxed but her eyes held anticipation and a hint of a challenge within them that said she knew danger well and knew how to handle it well and no doubt painfully for the other person.

“Really? You must have found the short version then.” Snatching up the tablet before Nicole could stop her, Sinn flicked through the reports. “Yeah,” she smirked, “that’s the short version. The things I’ve done… well, those would fill another twenty screens or more and give you nightmares.” And they still wouldn’t be the whole terrible truth about what she had seen and done, all the people she had killed.

The little shiver and flash of hurt behind Sinn’s eyes made Nicole pause. “Do they give you nightmares?” Green eyes widened briefly and she pulled back slightly with a hissed in breath as though he words had been a physical blow.

“Damn… Well, now, I bet you were at the top in your class in the academy weren’t you, Officer Haught?”

The pain in Sinn’s whisper rang clearly through the sarcasm that shrouded it and almost made Nicole reach across the table to comfort her but Sinn leaned back further, putting herself out of reach unless Nicole wanted to push it. Outwardly, Nicole was convinced that to anyone else, Sinn would look like she was relaxed and lounging back but, once more it was all about the layers and this time the arm she had wrapped around her waist protectively and the way her fist was clenched into her jacket.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories like that.”

Sinn sucked in a breath and forced herself to relax. “It’s okay, I was being a dick, totally deserved it. And, you’re right about the nightmares. Thanks to a lifetime of been forced to fight and go against what I was meant to be, leads to a hell of a lot of those even if all the killings don’t.”

“What you were meant to be?”

“How much do you know about Vampires?”

“Not too much at all. Just the basics we were taught at the Academy and what I’ve read up on. But personal experience… none. In fact, pretty sure there are no Vampires in the area and the nearest we got to Werewolves, Waverly said it was a Skin Walker? Of course, there could be all those things and more around here but no one has said anything to me.”

“It would probably be better here, and for me too, if there were some around.” Sinn paused, waiting while a patron made their way past them in the direction a sign said the toilets were located. Once they were out of earshot, she leaned forward. “Thanks largely to who created the original of their kind, Vampires and Werewolves are actually pretty much in tune with nature. They favour the trees and the land… they keep balance just like any other predator in nature. And when they refuse to settle in an area it’s… well… normally demonic forces at work. They poison everything with their brand of power and that makes anything that relies on nature, suffer.”

“And that’s why you’re having problems too? I know you said distance could do it but if you share power it must be the same kind? And you did say that you weren’t from, ‘down there’.”

“Could be…” Sinn mulled Nicole’s theory over. It really did make sense. “Could very well be. I was just putting it down to distance but if there really is more Demons at play here than anything… Doesn’t explain how the fuck I got here though.

“We’ll work on that.”

“Yeah?”

“For sure,” Nicole assured her. Purgatory was only a small town but they had resources… Mostly Black Badge but if it helped get Sinn home and helped them to work out what had brought her there before someone got whisked off in the other direction.

Shit! She quickly made a mental note to get that stretch of road shut down until they found out more. A quick check to make sure that no one was already missing wouldn’t go amiss either.

Sinn took another sip of the god-awful coffee as she studied Nicole as she sat there quite obviously going through a list of things in her mind. There was a lot of hurt and frustration going through those eyes that was going to eat her and her relationships up if she didn’t get a handle on it.

“Mighty deep in thought there, Officer.”

“Just worried that while we’re here someone might get sucked back the way you came or get dropped off somewhere else.”

“Hmm, that would be bad.”

“And, after reading your file and all it didn’t say I’m kind of wondering why you’re being so forthcoming with… me.”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

“No,” Nicole quickly assured her. “I want to help… Guess I’ve just gotten used to my offers to help getting shot down around here.”

“That sounds downright foolish of them. You didn’t freak out when you saw my eyes, Nicole. I trust you,” though she still wasn’t sure why. “And if you’re willing to help…”

“I am.”

“Then I would rather you have the facts than have to protect you because I didn’t tell you something that could be important and help save your life.”

The buzz of the phone in her hand was a distraction that made Sinn feel weak in anticipation. “I need to get this.”

It wasn’t voiced as a question as to if it was okay, but Nicole nodded even though Sinn had already accepted the call and was almost curled up around the phone.

“Hey,” eyes closed, Sinn held the phone tightly, pressing her forehead against the edge of the case so she could hear every breath and the ragged sob of relief the burst from Yoanna’s lips over the speaker.

I’m okay,” Sinn whispered brokenly. It sounded croaked and strained to her own ears and Sinn quickly brushed aside the tears that slipped past her eyelids.

“Sinn, put the camera on, my love. I need to see you for myself.”

Nicole didn’t know the woman on the phone, not that she knew Sinn much better either, but the anguish pouring from the disembodied voice and from Sinn’s suddenly open expression cut her deep.

Sinn’s green eyes shone, literally, as she looked at the women on the screen. Sparkles of green danced across the top of the table as the light from her eyes caught in her tears. Fearing that the light show might draw unwanted attention to what was a private moment between a couple in love, Nicole slid around and gently nudged Sinn around until her back was to the room.

“Are you okay? What the hell happened, Sinn?”

“Still not sure on the what,” Sinn grimaced. “One second I was heading home and the next there was a flash of light and everything changed. As to the okay,” Sinn sighed, she wanted to just say she was but she knew damned well that Yoanna would see her lie. “Yoanna… have you, have you felt any different?”

“I can feel a barrier between us that is weakening me if that’s what you mean. I know you wouldn’t dare put it there.”

“Hey, I only did that once and it was unintentional.”

“I know, my love. I did not mean to sound harsh, I’ve just been worried… scared since you vanished right before my eyes like that. Now… if you felt the need to ask I take it you are getting the worst end of whatever is putting a barrier between us. Where are you? When are you coming home? And just who is that stunning redhead I saw a bit ago?”

“Stunning huh?” Sinn cocked an eyebrow at Yoanna. “And no, first of all… Where are you? You’re not at the mansion,” Sinn studied the screen dragging her eyes around the limited view behind Yoanna. “You’re on the plane?”

“Ready to take off as soon as you tell me where you are.”

“L.A.”

“Catherine Nikolova, you are terrible at lying! And I can see snow through the window behind you as well as an almost alarming amount of flannel.”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t come... fine!” she threw up her hands in surrender as Yoanna gave her a look that was apparently just as effective on her over the phone as it was in person.

“We promised never to step into danger alone, my love. You used to do that far too often and the last time you did I fucked you raw and threatened to spank you and use the strap-on if it happened again I believe.”

Sinn glanced out of the corner of her eye at Nicole and felt a blush rise at the far too still way the Officer was holding herself and pretending not to listen. She glared at Yoanna just a little as her rich laugh sounded through the speaker to let her know she knew damn well what she had done. “Yoanna! Please, amongst people that aren’t used to us!”

“Makes you blush more, I like that. But, I don’t like feeling like my soul is been ripped apart so… where are you and who is your friend?”

“I’m somewhere in Canada… small one moose town called, Purgatory, where ever that is. And my ‘friend’ or should I say ‘stunning friend’?” Sinn cocked her eyebrow again. “Is a Cop. One that kind of caught me going over the speed limit… just a little.”

“One-forty in a fifty zone is not ‘just a little’ even if there wasn’t snow on the ground!” Nicole huffed around her coffee cup.

“Great, now I think I’m back to trying to persuade her not to arrest my ass. Yoanna… meet Officer Nicole Haught.” Sinn tugged Nicole’s arm until the Officer gave up on pretending not to be intrigued by the thought of seeing a Vampire Queen and moved closer until she was in camera range too.

Nicole tried to compose her face, she really did, but the elegant blonde was so strikingly beautiful and looked every inch royalty that she felt a blush of her own rising in her cheeks. Looking beyond the first impression though, Nicole could see the pain and concern on her face and the dark shadows beneath her eyes.

“I hope, my Sinn isn’t causing you too much trouble, Officer?”

“Please, call me Nicole,” Nicole gave the woman what she hoped was a warm and reassuring smile and watched as some of the tension faded away at the gesture. “And, while I’m still a bit confused, Sinn isn’t causing trouble… much.”

“Hey, I’m been very non-troublesome.”

“For you, my sweet Sinn. That can mean a whole different thing to someone else.” Taking in the twinkle in Nicole’s eyes and the teasing smile playing around her face as she glanced towards Sinn, Yoanna decided she liked the young woman a lot. Usually, Sinn, even when she was been amiable, had a sarcastic wit and charm that could rub a Saint up the wrong way until she loosened up and trusted them.

Only then, once they saw the heart of her did they learn to look beyond it did they see what she was truly like.

Nicole seemed to be handling herself and Sinn quite well though… to the point where she seemed to have skipped over the usual five-year waiting period to win Sinn’s trust.

“How long until you’ll be here?”

“Not going to try and put me off?”

“Nope… I’m missing you too damned much so, not going to fight against what I want… And it’s not like you would listen anyway. Just… be careful, okay?” She begged urgently. “Whatever is going on here is screwing with my power pretty bad.”

Yoanna’s heart ached at Sinn’s second admission that she was feeling weaker. Usually, that was something her stubborn love would keep to herself, especially when she was surrounded by people that she didn’t know or trust. Hell, getting to admit that something was wrong when she was with anyone she trusted was nearly impossible.

“We’ll be taking off soon and I’ll let you know when we get closer.”

“We?”

“Eric is with me.”

Sinn nodded. Eric was their head of security and as such he was well trained. He was also a damned fine pilot and very human which might actually give him an advantage if their powers were weakened by being in Purgatory. Which sounded utterly weird to say and Sinn couldn’t help but wonder who was responsible for naming the town.

“This is not how I expected the day to be going,” Sinn sighed. “I’m hungry for you. We should be in bed right now, celebrating our first year together. I had it all planned, the wine, candlelight, the food… and especially the dessert.”

Nicole tried not to listen in on their conversation but she felt heat torching her ears from the husky purr in Sinn’s voice when she leant closer across the small table of their secluded booth and said dessert.

“Shit-strumpet!!”

The crack of flesh meeting flesh rang out like a gunshot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... Hello, angry Waverly!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

As her baby sister thrust her aside and stormed out of the coffee shop, Wynonna glowered at Haught and wondered if it was possible to send her baby sister’s dumbass, cheating, sister hurting, girlfriend down to hell with her Great-Grandfather’s gun, Peacemaker!

Surely it could be of use for something like that as well as despatching Revenants and other Demons?

“Waverly!” Shaking herself out of her shock and confusion, Nicole went to move past Wynonna and follow the sob of pain and anguish that hung in the air, stabbing at her heart long after the coffee shop door had finished rattling from the strength of Waverly’s slamming. Wynonna stepped into her way, blocking her attempt to sidestep her and pushed her back with a harsh hand to her chest and a glare that said she was seconds away from violence. “Wynonna…”

“Don’t you move, Haught! Don’t you fucking move! Dude! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Wynonna spat the words into Nicole’s face.

Picking herself up off the floor, Sinn sat back down at the table and rubbed at her stinging cheek and tried to shake away the ringing in her ears.

Apart from Yoanna, she couldn’t remember the last time _anyone_ had been able to get a jump on her like that. And not one person in the coffee shop seemed to care that she had been attacked right in front of them.

Maybe it was just a normal, everyday kind of thing for a town full of Demons?

Her power was just so low right then and she had been focussed only on talking with Yoanna and reconnecting with her. Hell, she couldn’t even remember much before finding herself on the floor outside of a shouted outburst… something about strumpet…?

Did she really just get called a strumpet?

What the hell was a strumpet anyway?

Sinn felt like she should be offended but she wasn’t too sure. “Fuck!”

A hand, she could remember a hand yanking on her shoulder and then the impression of hurt hazel eyes set in a pretty face and a hell of a lot of long light brunette hair that had whipped around and stormed off just as her ass was hitting the floor.

“Fuck.” Leaning against the table top, Sinn rubbed her jaw and glared balefully at Yoanna. “Woman, I just got my bell rung, quit laughing at me!”

Yoanna tried to restrain her humour, she really did but the shocked look on Sinn’s face wasn’t making it easy. If all they had to deal with was a jealous girlfriend and a slapped face… Yoanna felt strongly that they could take that as a good day.

“Hell of a town you found there, my love. And to think it’s redheads that are thought to be hot-headed.”

Wynonna froze as she realised there was a whole conversation taking place right beside her. Bunching her fist in Haught’s uniform she pointed a finger in Nicole’s face, telling her not to try anything as she leaned to the side for a better look at the black haired woman Waverly had decked for canoodling with her ‘best baby’.

Wynonna couldn’t see much apart from black hair and black clothing to know what she looked like as her back was to her, but she could see the stunningly beautiful blonde looking out from the smartphone propped up on the table in front of her.

“Ohhhhh,” eyes widening in dawning realisation, Wynonna quickly put two and two together and looked towards Haught for confirmation. “She was talking to her girlfriend, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Not you?”

“No!” Nicole looked down pointedly at Wynonna’s hands until her girlfriends older sister finally got the hint and gave her a smirk as she quickly tried to smooth out the creases she had put in the fabric as she let go. “I’d better go talk to her.” She needed to get to her and explain what she could before Waverly went off on one of her epic cool-down walks out of town and got sucked god only knew where!

“No! I’d better be the one, Haught!”

“She’s my girlfriend, Wynonna!”

“Yeah, but which one of us is Waverly least likely to slap on sight right now? Let me calm her down for you, Haught.” Wynonna took another glance at the woman, taking in the barely-there pattern of roses sewn into the back of her leather jacket. A motif she had been admiring on the bike outside before Waverly had spotted Nicole. “Hey, erm, nice to meet you… I’m Wynonna… Sweet looking ride!”

Grinning at Haught, Wynonna slapped her on the shoulder hard enough to stagger the taller redhead and left her to deal with un-ruffling the feathers of the Waverly attacked stranger while she rushed off to face mortal danger… aka, trying to calm her sister down long enough to be heard.

All in all, Wynonna would rather be facing off against the rest of the seventy-seven Revenants than Waverly when she was upset!

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

Bursting from the warmth of the coffee shop, Wynonna looked in the most likely direction her baby sister would have stormed off in. The other way first led to the Municipality Building that housed the Black Badge offices and the Sheriff’s Department which seemed an unlikely direction for Waverly to head in… unless she was plotting a trap for her girlfriend. And further on it led to the strip joints and the seedier parts of Purgatory… places the Revenants liked to frequent and call home.

Waverly was nowhere in sight but Wynonna could tell that was the right direction by the way the couple that ran the hardware store down the street were standing in the freezing cold, deep in conversation and looking a combination of concerned and bemused. Which probably meant that Waverly had been too wrapped up in her pain to give them one of her patented smile and waves.

Which was bad as her smile and wave was Waverly’s cloak that she hid her real pain and emotion behind. If it had dropped then she was not in a good place. Like she really needed that for a clue though seeing as Waves had slapped the shit out of a stranger!

Giving said strangers big black ride a longing glance, damn but it was one fine looking machine… sleek and powerful like a black panther poised to strike, Wynonna pouted when she saw the keys weren’t in it.

Though Wynonna decided it would probably have been pushing it to be slapped on her ass by one sister and have her bike _borrowed_ by the other. Sighing regretfully, Wynonna set off at a loping run in the direction she thought and hoped Waverly had gone before she stormed off out of town on one of her walks.

With as bad as the winter was, that was something she definitely didn’t need to be doing in one of those weather inappropriate crop tops she liked to wear.

Skidding to a halt, Wynonna backtracked a couple of steps and sagged in relief when she saw Waverly down the alley she had almost raced past, She was leaning against the wall, hunched over in pain around the sobs that were wracking her tiny but mighty body. Wynonna walked slowly towards her sister. With Waverly’s mood right then, slow was best in case she took off at a run again or had something more dangerous than a fist to use on her before she realised she wasn’t a threat.

“Hey, baby girl!” Wynonna tried a smile but got a baleful glare from tear-filled eyes instead once Waverly realised it was her and not Nicole that had followed. “I thought it would be best if I came to check on you,” she explained. “At least that way you wouldn’t be tempted to break your hand on Haught’s face.”

“She cheated on me, Wyn! You heard her… a year!”

“Funny story, baby girl…”

“Don’t you try defending her, Wyn! Don’t you dare take her side!”

“Waverly, if I even thought she had done anything I would be using her for target practice after what Champ put you through. That woman you decked though… and, nice shot by the way… she wasn’t talking to Haught-stuff. She was on her phone talking to her girlfriend.”

Wynonna watched as the information sank in and realisation of what she had done hit Waverly hard and she was all guilty wide eyes over the hand clasped over her mouth.

“Oh goddddddddd! Oh my god! Oh my god! I hit her!”

“Yes, you did!” Wynonna almost told her again how proud she was of the blow but she bit her tongue instead knowing it would just prolong Waverly’s guilt. There was always time for teasing later, she reasoned.

“And she was talking to someone else?”

“Yup!” Wynonna confirmed.

“Oh, god,” Waverly moaned pitifully. “Nicole is going to hate me!”

“Baby girl, when it comes to you, that walking ginger bumper sticker hasn’t got anything in her other than love. She could never hate you no matter what you did.”

“That was before I went all psycho and attacked a complete stranger! Oh god, ‘Nonna… Nicole was still on duty too!” Not that there was a good time to assault a stranger but while she was in uniform was definitely one of the worst times. After all, if kissing, canoodling and excessive P.D.A.’s were frowned upon on duty then assault would definitely be out.

Wynonna blinked in shock as Waverly launched herself across the space between them and wrapped her arms around her in a fierce, breath-stealing hug while she sobbed brokenly against her.

After years of bullying and abuse from her supposed peers and being called a crazy killer, Wynonna still struggled with the whole idea of being physically close to anyone for friendly reasons. Awkwardly, she patted at Waverly’s back and, once she realised it didn’t feel all that bad to be hugged by her sister, she relaxed and held her back until the tears subsided. “Hey, it’s okay. Ya ready to go get that coffee now before Nicole gets worried?”

“Nonna,” Waverly sniffed, “I slapped a woman! That’s not like me! How can I face anyone again?”

“Blame it on the Earp genes. Hey, ya know, if it helps I think you impressed the hell out of her girlfriend with that shot.”

Waverly moaned at the thought even as it piqued her interest. She didn’t know there were any other same-sex couples in the area, at least none that were out like Nicole and herself were. And then she realised that that more than likely meant that the woman she had attacked was a stranger to the area and not just herself.

Waverly had always prided herself on giving friendly greetings to strangers and she’d done that!

“Yeah, really stunningly beautiful blonde too,” realising how that sounded, Wynonna tried to get Waverly moving back towards the coffee shop and her fate. “Well, come on! You need to make good with some apologies. Sick of freezing my ass off! Damn long assed winter is making me miss Greece and I’m sure Nicole would hate it if you got frostbite in those abs you keep insisting on flashing around!” For emphasis, she reached out and poked at the ridiculously solid wall of muscle there.

“How in the hell do I go about getting some of those anyway?”

“Give up the whiskey and donut diet?”

“Well, screw that then!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

Looking at her reflection in the small mirror of the coffee shop bathroom, Sinn fingered the stark outline of the handprint on her cheek. Grumbling softly she splashed more cold water into her face to try and calm the redness down.

“Are you okay, my love?”

Sinn tossed Yoanna’s amused expression a belligerent glower. “I would really be happier if you would stop laughing at me,” she groused slightly.

“All things considered Sinn, I would be happy if that mark on your beautiful face and a bruised ego are all that come of your sudden trip to Canada.”

“Yeah,” Sinn sighed softly in agreement and understanding. Reaching out she brushed the tips of her fingers over the far too small image of the screen. “I hate not being able to feel you,” she whispered sadly.

It was more than just a physical touch that she was missing, though that was amazing. It was the touch of their minds and everything they shared.

“I miss you too, my Sinn. Are you okay?” Yoanna questioned seriously.

“Officer Haught’s young lady packs quite a punch but, yeah. I’m okay.”

“She slapped you.”

“Okay,” Sinn stuck her tongue out, “she packs quite a slap. Which doesn’t sound nowhere near dramatic enough. I know my power is low right now but I can’t believe I’ve gotten so reliant on it that she managed to get a jump on me like that let alone take me off my feet. And before you say anything, yes, I know I was sitting down.”

“You were kind of distracted,” Yoanna pointed out gently. “You are right though, even before we got together I don’t think I ever saw you marked up like that. It should have healed up almost instantly.” Reaching out, Yoanna brushed her finger across the screen of her tablet, wishing she could feel Sinn’s face for real. “You’re still having trouble controlling your eyes?”

“Yeah,” glancing back at the mirror, Sinn pulled a wry face as she took in the even brighter shine of green. “If I’m losing power shouldn’t that part be fading too?”

“Maybe you’re just been blocked from using it more than it’s been lost? If that is the case we will need to see about that when we get together before there is any danger.”

“Oh great, transported all the way to Canada, which is fucking cold, by the way, so I hope you’ve got some skimpy thermals to shimmy into. Nearly wipe out a Cops mirror and almost get arrested for speeding…”

“One, forty? I’m tempted to ask Officer Haught to throw you in jail for that speed too!” Yoanna teased.

“Well, the road was clear and I wanted to get home! Hell, I could probably have run faster than that and god knows what Haught would have thought of that if I’d streaked by. Yoanna, have you ever heard of this place before? Know anything of these Revenants she mentioned?”

“My knowledge of the different demons is very limited but I will try and look into it. If it is demon territory though there will be very little in any records that I have access too. As you know, our power attracts our kind to it, and demons attract demons. We can survive out of our natural environment but we don’t thrive.”

“Could that be what messing with my power?”

“I don’t know if anyone has ever stuck around to see what it would do so I don’t know. Usually, there’s just a strong need to get away. How you were dragged there… I have never heard of anything like that being associated with demons and our kind. I feel that something else must be at work there. We will work it out together. Right now though I think you’d best work on controlling your eyes so you can stay hidden from these Revenants and anything else that might like to make a meal of your delectable body.”

“Usually that’s just you,” Sinn chuckled.

“Well, you are mine to nibble on. How is your thigh, by the way?” Yoanna smirked as Sinn sucked in a breath, her body twitching at the reminder of her last, ‘not at all tender’ bite on the inside of her thigh. Sinn’s eyes blazed through the small screen, hot and hungry, and full of the promise of delightful retribution to come. “Eyes my love. Control them. Slow your breathing.”

“Slow it?” Sinn managed to croak out past the need still washing through her. Damn it! Her day should not have been going this way! She should have been in bed with Yoanna’s hot body sending her up in flames not stuck in a snowy wilderness with wild, face slapping brunettes.

Gripping the edge of the sink, Sinn took in a deep breath and listened to Yoanna’s gentle urgings to control her breathing. She slowed it down, released all the tension in her body through techniques learned through meditation and yoga.

But her eyes stayed that hungry, shining, metallic green that would have anyone seeing it thinking she was a Vampire trapped in a bloodlust. “Damn. Well, good news, I feel much calmer now… but this ain’t workin’ at all.”

“Did bring out that delightful accent again though,” Yoanna grinned. “You had gone quite native when we talked first.”

“Great,” leaning a hip against the edge of the sink, Sinn fished a pair of shades out of her jacket and slipped them on. Turning her head she checked out how good the coverage was then pushed them back to nestle amongst her hair so they didn’t come between them. “Knowing my luck it started slipped when I heard her talking after she pulled me over. She hadn’t said anything but… she’s good and I can’t for one second believe she didn’t notice.”

“You like her, huh?” Cocking her head to one side, Yoanna studied Sinn intently. She wasn’t one for trusting quickly let alone easily and usually protected herself with layers of abrasive sarcasm. Officer Haught though, whether through necessity on Sinn’s part, had found herself of a very, very short list of people Sinn had warmed up to.

“There’s just something about her. She’s smart and very observant but open to unusual shit been dumped on her out of nowhere. Hell, she barely even flinched when she saw my eyes like this. In fact, the most blinking I got out of her was when I filled her car with weapons.”

“Not all of them I bet though.”

“Oh, hell no! She’s nice but you know how hard it is to get those off me,” Sinn winked at Yoanna’s chuckle. Over their first year together, they had made it something of a game to see if she could keep any weapons hidden on herself while Yoanna searched her. It was a game that usually ended with them both naked and breathless. Which, as far as Sinn was concerned, was the perfect way for a game to end.

“Well, looks like my eyes aren’t going to calm down any time soon.” Giving a rueful smile, Sinn dropped her shades down to cover her eyes. “Hopefully this won’t take too long anyway,” picking up her phone, Sinn cradled it closer so she could see Yoanna better. “God, don’t want you to have to come here when we don’t know what the danger is but I can’t wait until you get here. Just want to hold you close again.”

“Only hold?” Yoanna teased gently.

“Hold, touch, kiss… fuck through every wall and floor I can find to put you against.” Putting her hip to the bathroom door, Sinn backed out of the room and spun around to find her path blocked by yet another brunette.

“Eww, gross! Came back here to escape those two before they started getting all lovey-dovey again but you’re even worse!” Smirking unrepentantly, Wynonna stuck out a hand to the other woman and made no pretence about her efforts to get a look at the woman she was talking to on her phone. “I didn’t really get the chance to introduce myself properly before. Hi, I’m, Wynonna, Wynonna Earp!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darn you, Wynonna! She just had to practice her cock-blocking techniques on Sinn and Yoanna!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

“You do make some interesting friends, my love,” Yoanna laughed as Sinn mouthed ‘HELP’ at her and spluttered as Wynonna flung an arm around her shoulders apparently to usher her back into the main part of the coffee shop.

Yoanna noticed though that Wynonna seemed to be pretty intent on getting a good look at her with an expression hidden in her blue eyes that was more knowing and ran deeper than the joking façade showed.

Sinn was all dry sarcasm to hide her feelings. Apparently, Wynonna had found a different way to conceal hers.

Before Sinn had managed to get over the shock of Wynonna’s sudden appearance, Sinn found herself back at the table in the main part of the coffee shop and getting a better look at the young woman that had knocked her down. Well, only a slightly better look as she was apparently trying to make a home for herself inside of Nicole’s uniform. Not that Nicole looked like she was minding too much as she was wrapped around the woman just as much and had a totally blissful look on her face as she lost herself in the feel of the woman she quite obviously loved.

Waverly stiffened at the feel of eyes upon them and Wynonna’s soft grumbling about their closeness broke through. If it had just been Wynonna she would have been tempted to ignore her or flip her a finger but she was all too aware of that gaze.

Cautiously, Waverly turned her head and peeked out from between the folds of Nicole’s uniform and got her first look at the woman she had slapped down to the ground.

The woman looked to be a similar height to herself but she carried herself taller somehow. Wynonna had a reputation built up around her that was a lifetime of bad decisions and craziness that had them believing that Purgatory’s wild-child should be six-foot tall at least. This woman… despite looking pretty calm, exuded an air of danger. Her black hair tumbled around her face in a simple style, it was so dark that as it fell around her shoulders it caught the light and danced with shades of blue as she tilted her head slightly. She was beautiful and looked to be a similar age to Nicole and Wynonna but whereas Nicole’s face was open and expressive, showing her joy in a flash of dimples… The dark haired woman’s face was guarded in a way that was cold. Or maybe it was just that her eyes were been blocked off by sunglasses that made it seem that way.

A fire started in Waverly’s cheeks, a moan bubbling up, as she took in the all too obvious lines of colour painted across her cheek, looking so very startling against her light tan where her hand had struck. The woman never said anything, just looked her way and Waverly felt shame rising within her for her actions.

How could she? She had never retaliated like that when Champ had actually cheated on her and yet just seeing Nicole talking to another woman had thrown her off the deep end.

But then, she had never loved anyone the way she did Nicole.

“Waverly, I know it’s cold out, but any chance you’re going to climb out of Haught-stuff’s clothes and meet…?”

Tensing her side in anticipation, Sinn let Wynonna’s elbow bounce off her ribs without a murmur. “Sinn.”

“Sinn?” Wynonna’s lips quirked in joy. Oh, the fun she could have if Sinn stuck around. Really, a Haught and a Sinn, it was a ridiculous abundance of pun-tastic opportunities!

“Earp,” Nicole drawled warningly. She could see Wynonna’s brain ticking over, working out all the twists she could put on a name like Sinn. And as much as Wynonna was the heir with a big assed magical gun… Sinn had the kind of resume that was so heavily redacted it was scary and Nicole really didn’t want to have to try and hold them apart if things went south.

“It’s okay Officer, believe me, I’ve heard them all, good and bad,” Sinn smiled gently. “Sorry about the misunderstanding earlier. Know how it must have sounded when you walked in on that conversation. Officer Haught here was kind enough to help me out on the road and I was letting my fiancée, Yoanna, know I was okay.” Holding up her cell phone, Sinn let Waverly get a look at the temptress in question.

There was something off about the young woman that niggled at her but Sinn hadn’t been able to put a finger on what was wrong. Until she did though, she didn’t feel like sharing any details about where she was from… more than she had to anyway.

Waverly grimaced against Nicole’s body as Sinn called Nicole, Officer and made her aware that, once again, she’d forgotten herself and Nicole’s position and grabbed her while she was on duty and where all the town might see them.

Tilting her head up, Waverly smiled half apologetically at her and tried to smooth some wrinkles out of Nicole’s uniform. Half apologetically was all she could really manage as, even though she knew it was bad, she could never regret a moment in Nicole’s arm and she had seen how some of the women around looked at her and it always made her want to grab Nicole in the most inappropriate way so they would know who she was with.

Which was why she had…

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you like that… not sure what came over me,” smiling softly, Waverly finally stepped out from the comfort of Nicole’s body ready, mostly, to face what she had done. “Hi, I’m Waverly,” she beamed in greeting and gave a little half wave until she saw Wynonna roll her eyes at her for taking the perky town sweetheart thing too far again and changed it to an offer of a handshake instead. She couldn’t see the other woman’s eyes and that was making her nervous. Didn’t help that she lived in a place where seeing a person's eyes could be a matter of life or death. “I, oh god… I didn’t black your eye too, did I?”

Sinn stepped back as best as she could with Wynonna blocking her way as Waverly reached for her glasses. “No, you didn’t!” she softened her tone and actions with a smile and took Waverly’s, Haught-warmed hand in hers. She could feel the way Wynonna’s body stiffened at her back. “I’ve got green eyes… they can get really sensitive to the light and right now they’re pretty bad. Think all the glare from the snow made them worse.”

Sinn froze, her hand unconsciously tightening on Waverly’s as her powers suddenly kicked in and she felt what was about to walk into the coffee shop. For her, auras were a way of life that had helped her to survive. And, just as with her eyes glowing, she had grown so used to seeing people in shades of colours to where she almost didn’t see them.

Vampires, most of them, came with a red aura. Werewolves were green, Elves were blue. And Sisters… the ones like herself and Ella that were direct descendants of the ones created to keep the first Vampires company, they were gold, while humans were white to a pale yellow. Yoanna, been the last of the first Vampires created was unique in that her aura was the most beautiful golden red.

The one outside… Sinn had never seen anything like of it before. Blinking back the volcanic intensity of the rolling red and black, Sinn focussed on the man beneath it.

Following Sinn’s suddenly intense stare, Waverly froze as she recognized the Revenant. “Wynonna,” she hissed urgently.

“I see him, baby girl. Hate to say it but just let the shit-ticket go. Can’t do anything right now with so many people around. It would just cause a ruckus and I hate having to fill in all that crappy B.B.D. paperwork, Doll’s insists on.”

Wynonna felt Sinn’s body grow even tenser, reaching a point where she knew the dark-haired woman was about to do something. She had listened at the bathroom door for longer than she had let on and heard enough to make her curious about Sinn and what she was hiding about her eyes.

And that was before she saw her react to the Revenant even before he had walked in for a coffee. Revenants could sense another Revenant.

Hand sliding towards Peacemaker, Wynonna looked around the crowded coffee shop. There was just no way around the fact that they were going to make a scene and shit. Damn it, she really did hate the paperwork!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

Even though she was expecting some kind of action from Sinn, Wynonna was still taken aback and left blinking in shock when instead of making a run for it or starting a fight, Sinn just started cussing about Black Badge.

“Black Badge!? Oh, no fucking way! Yoanna…! Shit!” Lifting her phone, Sinn felt fear racing along with the anger when she saw that the call had been dropped and there was no signal at all. “Shit! You!” Sinn jabbed a finger at Wynonna. “You work for Black Badge?!”

Nicole glanced between the women nervously. She could see Wynonna’s hand reaching for her gun and could feel the situation spinning out of control as Sinn rounded on her and blocked Wynonna’s move with a firm grip to her wrist that kept her hand pinned at her side despite Wynonna’s effort to resist.

Gently but firmly, Nicole moved Waverly back before she could get swept up into the brewing storm.

Abandoning her effort to just reach Peacemaker, Wynonna yanked her hand free and wrapped them in the front of Sinn’s jacket. Pulling her forwards, Wynonna used her momentum to spin them both down the dimly lit corridor towards the bathroom and out of sight of everyone in the coffee shop.

“Waverly, try and get everyone out or at least keep them away,” Nicole ordered gently before Waverly could protest. Glancing around, Nicole drew her weapon and, keeping it down at her side out of sight, she followed the sounds of scuffling and bumping. That there were sounds and no actual words didn’t bode well in her opinion.

Wynonna never went anywhere, not even into a fight, without her sarcasm and sass fully engaged. Silence meant she was either unconscious or had her hands too full to wound Sinn with words.

Luckily it was the latter and not a pool of blood that greeted Nicole. Wynonna was back to trying to get her gun out of her boot while they bumped from one side to the other of the corridor. “Guys,” Nicole put her gun away, with how they were right then, she was more likely to hit the wrong person and… well… frankly, she wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. “What is your problem?”

“Revenant!”

“Black Badge!”

“What?” They spoke together and froze.

“Wynonna, Sinn came from outside the Ghost River Triangle. She can’t be a Revenant.”

“Then she must be some other kind of demon!” Wynonna argued belligerently. Taking advantage of Sinn’s stillness, Wynonna finally managed to get Peacemaker in her hand and pointed it at Sinn’s face and waited for it to glow in confirmation that the woman was a demon. And then she waited some more before giving it a shake and looking at it in confusion. “Come on! Don’t let mama down, baby.”

“Well I don’t know what you thought that was going to do but I’m not a Revenant or any other kind of demon!”

“Maybe the batteries are dead,” Wynonna muttered as she gave it another shake, slapping the long barrel of the bluntline special for good measure. “No, I’m not wrong, not again. There’s something not quite right with you, Sinn! I’m not buying that bull about your eyes being sensitive, so why the shades? And why the freak-out at the mention of Black Badge? I mean, sure, the higher-ups are complete assholes but we’re the good guys!”

“I think I can answer that if she doesn’t want to. Hello, Sinn.”

“You!”

Nicole’s eyes widened as the word hissed from Sinn’s mouth. She could almost feel it dripping with venom and loathing as it whipped past her body and saw Deputy Marshall Dolls actually step back and touch his cheek as though it had physically struck him.

“Officer Haught… Nicole, am I under arrest?”

“No.”

“Then I will be having my weapons back if you would be so good… suddenly I feel the need to be armed more than I am.”

“Right this way,” holding out an arm, Nicole created a buffer between Sinn and Dolls even though she was pretty sure one wasn’t needed… certainly not to protect Sinn anyway.

“Okay, what in the name of hell is going on, Dolls?”

Dolls watched intently as Sinn and Officer Haught moved back into the brightness of the coffee shop. “Not now, Earp. I’ll fill you in back at the station.” Any discussions about Sinn were ones best done in a more contained setting where there were fewer people to overhear… especially with what he had to say.

Waverly stepped back and made space when she saw the look on Sinn’s face as she stormed towards her with Nicole in her wake. “Nicole?”

“It’s okay, baby,” she smiled reassuringly. “Let me just go help Sinn out.” The uncertainty in Waverly’s face made her sad. Willa returning had thrown everyone for a loop but since the night of the party when Willa had tried to kill her, thank god for bulletproof vests, and then Wynonna apparently having to kill her sister, well, since then, Waverly had been alternating between clinging to herself and then Wynonna as though she didn’t want to let either of them out of her sight and then the next moment she would get a hard disdainful look in her eyes that was alien and not at all the sweet, gentle, Waverly, Nicole loved.

Jealousy rose within Waverly as the woman that was supposed to love her, turned to walk away with the dark-haired woman. A voice inside whispered that Nicole deserved someone like that, someone better than her. It whittled away at Waverly’s confidence, drawing her into herself and allowed the darkness she could feel inside to creep closer. Waverly felt like she was going out of her mind.

Every day she had moments when she lost a moment here or there and came back into herself not knowing where she was. It was probably stress doing it but… the doubt clawed at her that it was something more but no matter how often she wanted to voice her concerns to Wynonna or Nicole she just couldn’t. Literally couldn’t.

The last time she had tried she had been at Nicole’s. One second she had been reaching out to wake Nicole so she could get her concerns out in the open and ask for help and the next she realised that there was a knife from the kitchen in her hand.

Since then she had refused to allow herself to spend time alone with Nicole and the distance was killing her and hurting Nicole. But better that than actually hurting the woman she loved. Luckily avoiding time alone with Wynonna had been easier as she had been spending more and more time away from the homestead anyway. And when she was there and Waverly had no choice, Waverly figured that Wynonna would be more likely to be able to take care of herself whereas Nicole would comfort and put herself in danger.

Sinn paused, her hand on the handle of the coffee shop door. She could feel a cold darkness behind her, growing and pulsing with evil. It was different than what she had felt with the Revenant and yet at the same time, similar enough for Sinn to call it a demon. Lowering her glasses, Sinn looked at the room behind her using the reflections in the glass at the same time as she reached back with her powers.

Nicole shone brightly at her back, her aura on the higher end of the yellow range for a human. More sensitive to her brand of power… No wonder the Officer was more understanding and open to the weird shit she had thrown at her. Further back she could see the strangeness of Heir and Dragon that made their auras more demon to Sinn.

Sinn knew that what she had felt had come from Waverly. She knew it… but she couldn’t see anything wrong other than a darkness in her eyes that was almost lost to the pure brightness of her aura. The darkness faded and Sinn thought she must have imagined it as a more genuine smile came to the brunette's face and she seemed to grow more confident as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she walked towards them.

“Sinn, if you don’t mind… would it be okay if I hang with you and my baby?” Leaning into Nicole’s side, Waverly laced their fingers together and bit her lip nervously. She wasn’t sure why but the sight of Sinn’s eyes burning like green fire reflected in the window had pushed back the darkness, sent it scurrying into hiding within herself and she felt freer. With that freeness came the desire to spend as much time as she could with Nicole and renew herself with her love instead of pushing her away.

Seeing the hopeful and quite frankly smitten puppy look on Nicole’s face as she looked down at Waverly smiling up at her, Sinn couldn’t help but smile herself. Whatever she had felt it was gone for the moment and who was she to deny the lovebirds their time together. Between demons, curses and normal police work, it was probably difficult enough for them to get time alone together. “Sure thing… in fact, if you want I can just pop the trunk myself and get my gear.”

Nicole almost agreed, more time with Waves sounded like heaven to her, but the sounds of raised voices had her steering Waverly towards the door before they got caught up in whatever it was that had Wynonna calling Dolls an ass. And there was also the not so small matter of what had happened that had Sinn so furious about B.B.D. Nicole felt sure that if she took her eyes off of Sinn she would just vanish and somehow it felt important that she stopped that from happening any way she could.

As Nicole opened the door to usher both women out into the street she thought she saw something… someone… behind her. The world shifted away from her for a second, time slowing as she saw a black man leaning back against the counter. His head was lowered, thick smoke rising up from the cigar in his mouth while he twirled a cane in one hand. He lifted his head, lips twisting into a smile as he tossed her a salute and vanished.

Everything sped up again and Nicole blinked against the blast of cold air hitting her in the face and pulled Waverly further into the protection of her body as they walked towards her cruiser.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugg, felt like i nearly wrote myself into a corner trying to describe the battle going on within Waverly.
> 
> If I failed... she knows something is going on but the goo won't let her talk and keeps whittling away at her relationships to try and stop her from fighting.
> 
> Oh, and hello again, Baron Samedi, you little Wayhaught shipping Lao!  
> Hopefully why he wants Sinn and Yoanna to stick around will become clearer when my muses want to tell me that part of the story -_-


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018.

As Nicole opened the trunk of her cruiser and stood aside for Sinn, Waverly slipped her hands inside of Nicole’s jacket and huddled into the warm curve of her body. “Jeez, I think it’s gotten even colder!” she shivered as it bit through her clothing.

Maybe it was time to review the wearing of crop tops and dig into the warmer clothing in her closets?

The cold was forgotten momentarily as she turned her face and watched Sinn remove an impressive array of weapons out of the Police Cruiser and somehow made them vanish without a trace within a perfectly normal looking leather jacket.

Three guns, five knives… one of which was more a short sword, a cudgel, something that resembled a whip and a sizeable amount of garrotte wire.

“Holy shit-sticks! Who are you?” she breathed softly as Sinn’s calmly and precisely reloaded a gun and chambered a round ready. The noise was loud in the late evening air and made Waverly start and push tighter into Nicole.

Sinn chuckled softly. “I’m just, Sinn.” Moving over to her bike, Sinn leaned over and rummaged around under the tank and fairing until she’d found what she wanted. Standing back upright she found herself face to face with Waverly and almost jumped back herself at how she had managed to sneak up on her again… and this time without Yoanna to be her excuse for her lapse.

“Okay… Sinn,” Waverly tilted her head, brow creasing slightly as she studied Sinn intently, “then, _what_ are you?”

Sinn paused, her body stilling as Waverly reached out and gently plucked her shades right off her face with elegant fingers.

“I saw your eyes before we came out,” Waverly admitted. She tried to get a look at them but Sinn dropped her eyes, keeping them all but hidden but she could see the glow of them in the darkness, reflected in the snow drifting down. “I know you’re not a Revenant or a demon though else Peacemaker, Wynonna’s gun, would have lit up ready to send you to hell.”

“And yet you still came out here even though you don’t know what I am?”

Waverly shrugged. “Nicole trusts you,” she stated. “That’s good enough for me.” Folding up Sinn’s sunglasses, Waverly tucked them into the inside pocket of Sinn’s jacket.

Sinn turned, lifting her eyes as she propped a hip against her bike so Waverly could get a good look at them.

“What I am is a long, long, LONG, story that I don’t really have time to go into right now. And when I do, I would rather not be standing out in this godforsaken weather trying to explain. I’m not a threat though and neither is Yoanna.” Sinn raked a hand through her hair in exasperation.

“I need to get in touch with her. Stop her from coming if I can. And if I can’t I need to get her the hell away from here before those B.B.D. assholes do anything… The other Blacj Badge assholes,” she sighed, waving a hand before Waverly could protest that they were the good guys. Obviously, they didn’t know who was working with them if they thought that Agent Dolls was ‘good’. “I’m sure your sister is lovely when she’s not pointing a gun in my face.”

Nicole pulled a face at that as she came up behind Waverly and wrapped her back up in her warmth to hold back the shivers she saw running through her girlfriend’s petite frame. She had thought she had kept her face hidden but found her breath huffing out as Waverly poked her in the side for silently dissing her sister. “I can’t let you ride that bike in this, Sinn,” she nodded to the big black bike. “You’ll just end up in a ditch or wrapped around a tree.”

“I do hate when that happens,” waving a hand, Sinn cut off the questions she could see forming in their eyes. “I’ve got better reflexes than that… usually. But… been there and done that a couple of times too often with the crashing. Long story,” she smirked as their eyes went wide at her in curiosity and concern at her nonchalant attitude.

“Well, how about you find a shorter one to tell us while Nicole drives? That’s if you don’t mind, baby?” Waverly cast a hopeful look at Nicole, hoping she hadn’t overstepped too much with her being on duty.

“Of course it’s okay, Waves.” Nicole smiled at the thought of getting to spend even longer with her… and where Wynonna wasn’t likely to just pop up without notice. It felt like they hadn’t been able to catch any time together lately.

“Hey, if you want I’ll drive so y’all can get comfy in the back?”

“As tempting as that is… The sheriff would kill me if he saw me riding in the back of my own cruiser so I’m afraid you get to sit back there again,” she replied just a touch sarcastically.

“Lock me in again and I’ll kick the damn door off its hinges,” Sinn warned.

“She collapsed in the back,” Nicole whispered to Waverly as she escorted her around to the passenger side. “I rushed to help and forgot the doors don’t open from the inside. Another reason I would prefer she wasn’t riding or driving.” She shouldn’t have let her ride into town before but she had been distracted by the forest, by everything about the mysterious woman, and also by the overwhelming feeling that she just needed to do whatever was needed to get Sinn into Purgatory where she could keep an eye on her.

“Hey, Haught,” tapping on the thick Plexiglas, Sinn caught her attention before she could start the car and handed her a small metal vial about the length and thickness of her finger that she had gotten from her bike, through one of the pretty redundant breathing holes she was sure were there just to stop prisoners panicking about lack of oxygen.

“What’s this?” Nicole turned it around in her hand, studying the strange markings etched upon it.

“Hmmm, essentially… blessed oil. All you need to do is rub a drop over the outside of your weapon. It absorbs into the metal right through to the bullets and blesses everything. Lasts until you polish your weapon… going by the shine on yours that’s about half a day? It won’t kill a demon but it will pack more of a punch if you have to shoot anything.”

“Won’t you need it?”

“All of my weapons have got about five layers of protection on them… probably still won’t kill a demon but I’m less inclined and held down by the niceties of the law and can just keep shooting and hacking.”

“You think all demons are bad then?” Waverly questioned softly.

“That, Waverly, is a very complicated question,” Sinn chuckled wryly. As was why Waverly felt the need to ask. “I’ve never had many dealings with demons,” the closest had probably been the creature that claimed to be from hell… but it had been its idea of hell and not the one she had felt on the Revenant. “Y’all are probably best equipped to answer that. What do you know of Vampires?”

“Only what I’ve read. Never had any here as far as I know.”

“Okay. And if you went on what everyone thought of them before the laws finally changed… good or evil?”

“Everyone thought they were evil.”

“Vampires didn’t change. The only thing that did was the law that said they had the right to exist. There are still bad ones, just as there are bad people… bad Cops… and until a year ago I was the cautionary tale told to keep Vampires in check. To them, I was worse than the Devil,” she emphasised. Some of them still felt that way about her but now those were mostly the ones that did need to worry when they heard her name.

“Basically, just about everything people claimed about Vampires is false. They don’t drain a person of blood in one feeding, in fact, they rarely need to feed that way at all and can go a long time before they need blood. They can’t easily change people to be like them either, that is a long process that requires complete agreement between Vampire and human and then it can be dangerous. They fall in love. They mourn, laugh, cry and despite what was believed years ago, their hearts beat just like yours does. They have always been that way though… We just came to realise what they were and for once managed to change before it was too late. Maybe demons, even just some of them, are just something we don’t understand yet?”

Waverly soaked up all the information as Nicole expertly manoeuvred the heavy vehicle down the snowy road. “How come you know so much about Vampires?”

“That would be from personal experience. For years I was trained purely to kill them, I’m… was… what is known as a Hunter.” She could tell that the title meant something to Waverly as her eyes widened slightly. “And Yoanna, my fiancée… she’s a Vampire. Which is why I need to keep her the hell away from here and Black Badge.” Sinn sighed in frustration as she looked at her phone and saw the continued lack of bars.

“Sinn,” turning more fully in the seat, Waverly watched as the street lights bounced off her face. As they left the outskirts of the town, the car grew darker until the woman seemed to vanish into it. Apart from her eyes. Those glowed even brighter as they lifted and looked at her. “Why do you hate Black Badge so much?”

“Because I was forced to work for them once. I know them. I know what they do, and what they would do to Yoanna… and maybe even myself, if they got half a chance.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - chapter updated 16th July 2018

Pushing open the door to the Black Badge Department offices he’d sequestered right from under the disgruntled nose of Purgatory's only, Sheriff Nedley, Dolls stood back in a move of self-preservation as Wynonna stormed past him riding a wave of fury. She gave the radiator nearest to the desk she used a resounding kick that clanged down the old metal pipes deep into the building and threw herself down in her chair, propped her boots up on the desk and looked at him challengingly.

Her actions were something he had come to expect and even love from Wynonna. Usually, though they were topped off with a shit-eating grin that said she knew perfectly well how much she was winding people, and especially him, up. Wynonna in a completely pissed off mood was not unusual, but it was less fun to deal with when all that anger was directed his way as it was right then.

Wynonna had been building up a fair amount of steam before he had had that ‘oh shit, what is Wynonna doing now?’ feeling when he had seen everyone been evicted from inside the coffee shop and gone in to investigate.

Refusing to tell her there and then what was wrong with Sinn had just fanned the flames of her anger.

Refusing to give chase when she had seen her baby sister leaving in her girlfriend's car _with_ Sinn in the back was apparently an utter betrayal that had swung the anger completely in his direction with a finality that had had him expecting her to draw Peacemaker on him.

At least she was only kicking the heater and not him.

“Dolls! Dude! Don’t make me throw something heavy at you! Tell me what the hell is going on?! Who in the hell is, Sinn and why does she hate Black Badge so much?”

Wynonna knew why _she_ hated them but she wanted to know why Sinn did and why Dolls had kind of looked scared of her. Dolls never looked scared of anything and someone that could make him nearly shake in his boots was not someone Wynonna wanted Waverly driving off with.

Yeah, she had an armed Cop with her… but no matter how much Wynonna kind of liked the walking ginger bumper sticker… Nicole was a Cop and had been trained to act differently in a situation… with restraint. Wynonna was in no doubt that Nicole would die for Waverly but with the shit they got in to, she needed to be willing to kill first and not stand around yelling ‘FREEZE!’.

“Okay, right… you know of Hunters, right?”

Wynonna snorted and tossed a ‘yeah, sure’ look towards where Waverly would have usually been sitting all eager to jump in and prove she knew everything and fill her in on all the details while doing it. But her sister wasn’t there so in the end, Wynonna had to bite the bullet. “Erm, how about the Cliff Notes version?”

“Earp! It was all in the briefings I gave you last year!”

“Dude, really? Last year!? Most days I can’t remember what I had for breakfast and you expect me to remember a bit of paper amongst thousands you gave me to throw in the bin?”

“They were to read!”

“Waverly researches. You bitch about paperwork. I shoot things! That’s how _this_ works.”

“Okay,” Dolls wiped a hand down his face in exasperation. Really though, he shouldn’t have expected anything else from her, but he hadn’t known her all that well back then and had just assumed she would just follow his orders and become the good little Deputy for B.B.D.

She was damn good at what she did but following orders had never been Wynonna Earp’s style.

“Hunters… short version just for you. They kill Vampires and Werewolves for a living. Slightly longer version, they are descendants of a very special group of people that were dragged from their lives by a religious order. They are very well trained, faster and stronger than normal humans, they are ruthless and, by law, can basically do whatever the hell they want to whoever they want with _very_ little comeback… as in none at all.”

The longer version was even more complex and spanned thousands of years of betrayal and pain but he knew Wynonna wouldn’t be willing to sit long enough to listen to that.

“A licence to kill? Sweet! Sounds like my kind of woman! Next small item… Why does she hate Black Badge so much?”

“That’s my fault,” he admitted softly.

“How so?”

“I’m not justifying what I did but… I’ve spent most of my life been controlled by B.B.D. Being kept in line by my need for that drug. It was more than that though. I wanted to be good at my job… I grew up on the stories of Bass Reeves… he was was the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River,” he explained. “Because of him, I wanted to be a Marshall. I wanted to make a difference… to do good but what happened with Sinn… I can’t honestly say that if the drug wasn’t an issue that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“You’re a good man, Dolls.”

“But I’m not all man.”

“Okay, so you’re a good dragon, lizard thingy. Point is, no matter what you thought you were like back then, I trust you now.”

“It was about eight years ago, Sinn was seventeen, nearly eighteen. We were been pushed hard, made to perform to get our meds. The Vampires were pushing hard and getting close to gaining rights that would protect them and B.B.D. were… well, they were eager to study one but even the youngest of Vampires is stronger and better than most humans and no human drugs can knock them out. There was just no getting one alive and a dead Vampires chemistry changes so fast they were worthless to what B.B.D. wanted. I- I read about Hunters and put forward the idea of using them.”

Wynonna baulked a little as she thought back to Waverly’s description of the B.B.D. laboratory she had seen. Creatures huddled in small cells, waiting for their turn in been sampled. Dissection to see what made them tick wasn’t a hard conclusion to jump to as being their fate once that was over with.

It was a horrifying thought and she could see in the darkness of Dolls’ eyes that he was ashamed of what he had done. Not that that had stopped him wanted to get his hands on Revenants to put them in the same cages just so he could get his fix.

“I put the idea to them but I don’t know how they got a hold of her… Hunters, especially Sinn, are even more secretive than what they hunt. But one day she was just there with her Mentor,” he frowned at the memory of the man’s cold eyes and his lack of concern when it came to Sinn’s wellbeing. And Sinn… She had looked so damn young… until he looked into her eyes and saw only death within them.

Dolls had seen hardened soldiers that had done multiple tours in battle with more compassion in their eyes.

“They sent her into what they called a nest with five of the best men I had ever served with. Sinn was the only one that walked out on their own. None of the men died, she actually made sure of that. They refused to talk about what went down in that house but whatever it was, it made them more scared of Sinn than of the Vampires they had gone in to catch. Wynonna, these were men that had gone up against Werewolves, Witches, all kinds of different Demons and one eighteen-year-old gave them nightmares for the rest of their lives and had most of them quitting.”

“Dolls, what else happened? That kind of anger I saw in her didn’t come just from been made to do what she was already doing.”

“I wasn’t in on that part but the story is that they threatened to dissect her and she threatened the same back if she even felt like they were watching her too closely. Her main hatred has come since then though. Do I dare ask if you heard of what went down in England last year?”

Pursing her lips, Wynonna glared at him. “I might not be fond of the paperwork but that shitstorm was all over the news.”

“Sinn was a part of that… and so was Black Badge. Sinn was on the side of the Vampires and helped get them to safety… And Black Badge, they were on the wrong side, funding the drugs that were used on the Cops to make they go crazy. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of innocent people were slaughtered because of that and the only thing that saved Black Badge from been shut down was the huge cover-up that took place after.”

“Shit!”

“Yeah. Some paperwork got leaked to Sinn, detailing their involvement and warning her that they were very interested in the woman she loves.”

“Why would they be interested in Yoanna… Oh!” Wynonna’s jaw dropped in realisation. “She’s… that blonde… she’s a Vampire?” she stage-whispered loudly.”

“A very special one to all accounts.” In what way, Dolls was unclear on but he knew there had to be a hell of a lot more to her for them to risk taking Sinn on.

“Who leaked… ohhhh.” She pointed at Dolls questioningly but he annoyingly kept his best stoic face on. His shame for everything that had gone before keeping any pride locked down tight.

“She’s a good woman… dangerous, but good. I’m concerned though what Black Badge might do if they found out she was here. Sinn and Yoanna have got all kinds of safeguards in place now to put off anything like that but… with Sinn so close they might chance it.”

“And if they knew a certain blonde was flying in?”

“She is? That would be all kinds of bad. I’ll have a word with Jeremy and see if he’s heard anything from his contacts on the inside.”

“Yeah, well while you do that, I’m going to catch up with them. Knowing Nicole they probably haven’t made it too far yet, not it this weather. Well, she better not have risked speeding anyway with Waverly with her. And I’m kind of eager to meet blondie in person,” she grinned.

“Earp! No pissing the Vampire or her girlfriend off! Damn it!” he called after her as she skipped, literally skipped out of the room with a grin on her face. He knew that look of mischief all too well. “Earp! Wait for me! I’ll call Jeremy on the way!”


	12. Chapter 12

Silence stretched out between them in the car, broken by the sounds of Nicole’s Police cruiser crunching through the snow and the swish of the wipers clearing away the lightly drifting snow.  It wasn’t snowing too heavily but the headlights bouncing off each swirling flank made it feel like there was a blizzard around them.

Taking her focus off the snow, Waverly used the windscreen to check out Sinn in the back without having to turn.  She had her head back still, eyes casting dancing lights of green upon the roof of the car as she looked upwards.  Talking about her issue with B.B.D. had done a lot to calm her.  Waverly was glad about that even though the thought that Dolls would have anything to do with people like that, hurt.

But then, as Nicole had pointed out, Dolls had threatened her with death just for walking into the B.B.D. offices.  It was a memory that still obviously troubled her love as she had stiffened and tried to brush it aside before lapsing into her own silence.

Turning her eyes, Waverly surreptitiously watched Nicole as she drove.  She loved the strength of her, the way her hands kept a firm controlling grip on the wheel and loosened at the right moments to allow it some play.  Even though she was covered by the much needed winter weight jacket, Waverly could almost trace the flex of her forearms just by knowing how her girlfriends body moved.  The flex of thigh as she changed gear, the way her abdomen tightened and breasts rose with each breath and movement.

Unable to help herself, Waverly shifted closer.  Nicole’s wide eyes shifted just enough within the confines of the seatbelt Nicole insisted upon, so that Waverly caught the glimpse of warm brown and the hint of dimples as she gave that smile that was equal parts puppy anticipation and knowing seductress.

Waverly’s body quivered and started to burn at the thought, the memory, of that expression coming at her so many times before and from so many different angles.  Ones that usually led to Waverly finding herself a quivering wreck before her love was finished tormenting and pleasuring her.

Sliding her hand up Nicole’s arm, Waverly squeezed the firmness of her bicep through her jacket and worked her way up until her fingers found their home at the nape of her neck.  She had loved Nicole’s hair long but she loved the new shorter hair style just as much… especially how good it felt to twist her fingers through it when they kissed.  And Nicole had been right, it did make it easier to be the bigger spoon when she wasn’t drowning in all that red hair.

Every thought and memory, just watching her, had Waverly’s breathing growing just a little more ragged with need.  Skimming the backs of her fingers across the line of Nicole’s jaw, Waverly traced the line of that widening dimple to the corner of her mouth.  Nicole’s warm hand stilled hers, long nimble fingers tracing between hers as she turned her head just enough to press a kiss to them without once taking her eyes or attention off the road ahead.

“I want you,” Waverly whispered softly.

“Hey!  Both hands on the wheel, Haughtstuff!”

Waverly jumped back guiltily, clutching at her chest as she clattered back against the door as a far too familiar voice bellowed at them through the darkness from Nicole’s side of the car.  A big black bike shot ahead of them with a throaty roar and Waverly buried her face in her hands as Wynonna raised her hand and gave them a middle finger salute.

“Hey!  That’s my goddamn bike!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... they should have been at the airport by now but i guess Waverly was in the mood to reconnect with her love without the goo to mess with me
> 
> And i guess Nicole was wrong about been in a moving vehicle would make it a Wynonna free zone. Ooops


	13. Chapter 13

To Waverly it felt like the rest of the drive to the airport took forever.  The snow cleared and conditions on the road improved but Nicole kept at a steady pace.  Not that she had much choice as Wynonna seemed to be hell-bent on keeping them in sight and planted Sinn’s bike right in their path.

Waverly wasn’t sure if her sister was keeping an eye on Nicole and herself or Sinn but the sight of her bike been ridden without her permission had Sinn releasing an almost feral growl more than once and she set the interior of the car alight with the blaze of green.

Her relief as Nicole finally pulled into a space outside the small terminal was short-lived as Sinn swung the supposedly locked door open and stormed towards Wynonna before Nicole had ever turned the engine off.  “How did she do that?”  Waverly stared at the open door in shock.  “Damn it, I was hoping we might have time to calm her down.  Aren’t you going to stop them?”

“Nope,” reaching out, Nicole stopped Waverly from leaving the car with a gentle but firm hand.  “And neither are you, Waves.  They’ll be fine.  Let them sort it out between them.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Simple, Wynonna’s got that teasing shit-eating smirk going and Sinn hasn’t reached for a weapon.”

“But… Wynonna looks like that even when she’s shooting Revenants.”

“Not quite, this is the smile that reaches her eyes, she’s teasing, not pissed off.  She’s fine.  This one I’m not too sure about though after what Sinn told us,” nodding to Waverly’s side of the car she drew her loves attention to the SUV that was pulling up beside them.

“Earp!  If you’ve scratched my baby I’m takin’ it out of your ass!”

“Well, hello, green eyes.”  Wynonna gave a long drawn out breathy whistle as she took them in as Sinn stormed towards her.

“Gonna draw on me again, Earp?”

“Tempting… could I keep your bike if I do?  It’s one hell of a sweet ride.”

Sinn rolled her eyes as Wynonna made a loud purring sound and rubbed the gas tank like she wanted to make love to it.  “Woman, paws and ass off my bike!”

“So, as a lesbian, do you think my ass is top shelf too or is it just Officer Haughty that thinks that?”

Sinn blinked in confusion as she tried to work out just what had prompted that question… And then she heard a splutter from behind her and knew the teasing was for Nicole and Waverly’s benefit.

“You told my sister her ass was ‘top shelf’?”

“Wynonna!  I was drunk at the time, baby… you know how much I love your ass… beyond top TOP shelf!”

Sinn rubbed a hand over her face as Wynonna burst into laughter at Nicole’s wounded puppy expression and Waverly grabbed the officer by the jacket and yanked her down to her level for a deep kiss.

“Eww!  Goss,” Wynonna muttered and tried to hide just how happy the sight of her sister in love made her.

“It’s okay, baby.  Wynonna already told me about that.  Just no more complimenting body parts other than mine… ‘kay?”

Leaving the sisters to their mutual teasing of the poor Officer, Sinn made her way into the terminal to see if there was any news on when their plane would be landing.  That they actually owned a plane still blew her mind but it had saved time waiting for commercial flights and all the hassle that came with those when moving around with their weapons.

She slipped her sunglasses back on before she went inside.  God, but she would be glad when her powers levels were back to normal she could be back amongst people that wouldn’t react in fear at the sight of something that was perfectly normal to her.

Ignoring the sight of Dolls lurking around, Sinn found out what she needed to and checked the weather reports.  To say they looked bleak as an understatement.  “Shit,” she growled.  If the reports were correct, there would be a very limited amount of time to get Yoanna turned around if they landed.  “What do you mean you can’t get a message through to the plane?”

“It’s a small airport ma’am… our radios aren’t the best and we lost contact with the weather front closing in.”

“Lost contact. What in the hell does that mean… are they still in the air?”

“We’re still tracking them… we just can’t talk to them.  They’ll be landing within the hour as scheduled.”

“Everything okay?”

“Fine.”  Sidestepping Dolls, Sinn went back outside.  Leaning against a wall she looked up at the heavily laden clouds and felt the first flakes of snow melting against her face.  “Shit!”

“You okay?”  Nicole moved closer into the shelter and respite against the cold that the wall afforded and leaned her shoulder against it as she looked at the other woman.

“Been a hell of a day, Officer… Nicole,” she corrected at Nicole’s pointed glance.  “So, any chance you’re going to arrest Wynonna for stealing my bike?”

“Nope… and do you always do that?”

“What?”

“Deflect from how you’re feeling?”

Slipping her shades back into her jacket, Sinn studied the observant redhead.  “I bet you were the top of your class weren’t you?” she smiled softly, letting Nicole know she wasn’t taking a jibe.  “And I would say no about the deflecting, just my natural charm, but I’m sure if you asked Yoanna she would agree with you.  I seem to remember her calling me on it a couple of times.”

Nicole gave Sinn’s shoulder a quick squeeze as she looked to the sky and gave a heavy sigh.  “They’ll be landing soon.”

“Not in time to persuade her to turn around.  Oh hell, she wouldn’t anyway, not without me and I can’t leave until I find out just what the hell dragged me here and what is going on in that forest.”

“Which forest?”  Wynonna offered Sinn the donut she had already taken a bite of as she flopped against the wall the other side of her.

“Wynonna… that was for…” sighing in defeat, Waverly took the sprinkle donut she had wrapped and put in her pocket in anticipation of Wynonna’s actions and handed it to Nicole along with a drink of cappuccino.

“Sickening,” Wynonna grouched around another sprinkle laden bite to hide her smile as Waverly snuggled up against Nicole’s side.  Catching a speculative glance from green eyes, Wynonna saluted her with a grin and a fragment of donut.

Accepting a coffee from Waverly, Sinn settled back against the wall and just accepted the fact that she was outnumbered by the Earp sisters and Haught.  Sometimes it was best to realise that there was just no way to win a battle.

“Dolls not coming out?”

“He said he needed to try and get in touch with Jeremy?”

“He wants him to keep an eye on the gossip at B.B.D.  Make sure they don’t know about bright eyes here.  Now… the forest?”

As the silence stretched out, Nicole tore her eyes off Waverly.  “Sinn?”  She was standing there like a statue, a thoughtful, hopeful expression on her face.  “Hey?”

“She’s close.”  Thrusting her coffee into Wynonna’s hand without asking or even looking, Sinn stepped away from the wall and cast her eyes to the sky.  Taking a deep breath, Sinn breathed in the heady sensation of her power reconnecting with Yoanna’s.

Her breath caught painfully as her eyes finally found the sleek outline of their plane racing a huge bank of clouds towards the airport.  Through their connection she could sense no nervousness in Yoanna but that didn’t stop her own as the clouds won for a moment and swallowed the plane from sight before it banked sharply and burst from their grip in a steep decent towards the runway.

Sinn was no pilot, for that she trusted Eric, but the speed with which the wheels touched down against the tarmac made Sinn fear the plane was going to get bounced straight back into the air.  Which would have been a disaster as the moment the plane touched down the clouds and the bad weather they contained slammed down and filled the sky with a freezing blast of air and huge flakes of snow that obscured the plane from view.


	14. Chapter 14

Above the roar of wind whipping the snow against her, Sinn heard the engines of the plane cutting out with an unnatural suddenness.  Bracing herself against the fury of the storm she set off at a jog that quickly turned into a run as she jumped the fence to the runway.  She heard Nicole’s voice calling out behind her but the wind whipped her words away and she was in no mood to linger to find out what was been said.

Nicole watched Sinn vanish into the whiteout of snow.  A second was all it took for her to debate her options and then she ran towards her car.  Going after Sinn would be just about impossible on foot, she would just never be able to go to the plane in time to help anyone.  That made vehicle the only logical option and as she didn’t have the keys to the S.U.V.,  that left her cruiser.  Pushing against the buffeting ferocity of the wind, Nicole forced the door open and climbed inside.

The passenger door was suddenly forced open and for one mad moment, Nicole thought her car was been ripped apart by the storm.  Her breath escaped in a relieved gasp and then she reached out and grabbed Waverly’s hand and yanked her inside.

“Wynonna went to get Dolls,” Waverly explained as Nicole started the car.

The wind and snow knocked into Sinn, buffeting her from all sides and nearly taking her feet out from under her as she forged a path towards the shining beacon and pull of their power guiding her home.

Finally, after what felt to Sinn like hours, she saw the hulking shape of their plane looming through the whiteout of snow.  The engines were dead, thick, menacing looking icicles and sheets of ice blanketing them like they had been dipped in water and plunged into liquid nitrogen.  The wheels looked like they had fared no better and were shredded to pieces as though they had frozen to the ground while the plane had still been moving.

Skidding to a halt, Sinn looked at the door impatiently.  The only thing that stopped her from ripping a hole into the plane was that she could still feel her love and her growing eagerness that matched and fuelled her own.

The door opened and Sinn barely had the chance to make out that Eric was the one that had opened it, no doubt to do his job as guard, before her arms were full of the warmth of Yoanna’s body as she launched herself from the plane.  Cerulean blue eyes gazed into hers, hands tracing over her face as she slid down her body, dragging her head down as their mouths met in a kiss that was a soft caress of warm as they breathed into each other and ignored the buffeting cold of the storm raging around them.

“God, I’ve missed you,” Sinn whispered against Yoanna’s mouth.  Sliding her hands up the curve of Yoanna’s back, Sinn tangled her fingers into her hair and pulled her closer as they deepened their kiss.  Their mouths grew hungry, tongues tangling and dancing together as they moaned into each other.  Power poured through them, filling and reconnecting.

Shifting, Sinn slid her thigh up between Yoanna’s and swallowed her thick moan as she pressed against her rhythmically.  Sinn didn’t care where they were, who might see.  She wanted, needed, to have Yoanna fall apart in her arms and drink her down.

As the pleasure built to almost unbearable levels, Yoanna grabbed a handful of silken black hair and pulled until Sinn gave up her throat with a whimper of need.  She panted against the softness of her loves throat, following the line of her pulse with lips and tongue to where it beat in the most enticing sweet spot right below the surface.  Yoanna sucked on it, tormenting Sinn until she was almost wild in her arms, her hand pushing against the back of her head urgently as she thrust against her.

Jaw aching with need, Yoanna laid her teeth right against her, capturing the frantic beat within the cage of her teeth.  She sucked hard, drawing upon her, timing each suck and release, suck and release with Sinn’s thigh pressing into her.

Screaming against Sinn’s throat, Yoanna sank her teeth into her vein and sent Sinn tumbling with her as she filled her mouth with the honeyed sweetness of her loves blood.

Nicole lowered the arm she had instinctively thrown up to protect Waverly from the explosion that had roared across the runway towards them in a ball of sun bright gold and red.  Waverly’s eyes were wide and shocked and Nicole imagined hers would be too if she looked in the mirror.  Nicole ran her eyes and hands over Waverly, checking for even the slightest scratch but she was just as perfect as ever.

Climbing out of the cruiser she looked around for signs of damage from the explosion she had felt sure was the end of everything for them but there wasn’t anything out of place.  No broken glass, no blistered paintwork.  The small terminal building and guard tower still stood.

Only then did it dawn on Nicole that she could actually see them where as moments they had been in the midst of the worst snowstorm Nicole had ever seen outside of an end of world disaster movie.  The sky was clear, a midnight blue blanket laid out for the stars to twinkle against for mile around.  Nicole could see the dangerous clouds in the distance but they looked like that had been simply swept aside by whatever that explosion had been.

“Oh!”

Turning on the spot, Nicole followed Waverly’s rapt gaze and took in the sight of Sinn in a heated, yet tender and loving, kiss with a blonde that couldn’t be anyone other than her Yoanna.  Their bodies glowed, pulsing like a heartbeat of gold and red  that slowly faded until all that was left to see of them was the soft glow from their eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Realising that her nose was nearly pressed against the windscreen of the S.U.V. in her astonishment, Wynonna sat back in the seat and finally managed to drag her eyes away from what she had seen and turned them to Dolls.  His face was stoic but she could see the shock in his wide eyes.  “I did just see that right?  Big glowing ball of light going…” she made an explosion gesture with her hands.

“That was… unprecedented.”  Clearing his throat, Dolls tried to wrap himself back in a layer of professionalism as he caught the smirk Wynonna was giving him.  “I hope Waverly and Officer Haught are okay.”  As soon as he said it, he regretted it as the smile slipped from Wynonna’s face to be replaced by worry and shame for her first thought not been of her little sister.  “Hey,” he grabbed her arm, sinking his fingers deep into her huge winter jacket to find the woman beneath.  “I’m sure they are… whatever that was it didn’t blow anything out or cause damage.”

Spotting Nicole’s police cruiser, he quickly pointed it out and hid a sigh of relief as the two women alighted from it looking a little shell-shocked but otherwise unharmed.  Before Wynonna could get impatient and just leap out, Dolls got the S.U.V. moving and set it in the direction of the police cruiser.  As they moved closer he whistled under his breath as he got a better look at the plane and the iced up state of it as it listed slightly on busted wheels and banks of snow.

Looking at Sinn and Yoanna… that he avoided, even though he wanted to… god, how he wanted to.  He just didn’t feel the need to have them looking at him after what he’d seen until they trusted him enough not to turn it on him.  From what he could tell, Wynonna had only seen it but the part of him that wasn’t quite human had felt it even through the protection of the vehicle.  He had felt it flow right through him, stinging.  Not to the point that it had hurt but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to control the beast in him if he got a full hit and that scared him.

Feeling eyes upon him, Dolls looked towards the grounded plane and studied the man standing in the open doorway.  He took it that he was the pilot but the way he move and raked his eyes across the landscape, taking in everything and everyone, Dolls knew that this was a man that had seen action in battle.

“My Queen, the idea is that I’m supposed to go first.”  Knowing it was a lost cause while they were wrapped up in each other as they were, Eric alighted from the plane to check around the perimeter and also to check on the state of the plane.  Remarkably the damage had come from their hurried landing and not from their blast of power… which was a miracle as that usually led to busted out windows.

A soft, tremulous moan from Sinn drew his gaze.  It was a sight he had been witness too many time since they had become a couple and it still affected him just the same.  Part of him wanted to look away and give them the privacy that such an intimate moment deserved.  And yet at the same time he couldn’t take his eyes off of them as Yoanna sealed the bite marks in Sinn’s throat with the softest, most loving of kisses that left Sinn’s lightly tanned flesh unblemished.

Sinn kissed the pad of Yoanna’s thumb and gave a little nibble as it brushed across her lips.  Blue eyes smiled into hers, shining with power and that soft look of love and need.  They had only been together for hours but a second would have been too long.

Hands sliding beneath Sinn’s clothing, Yoanna dragged her nails down the curve of her spine just enough to make Sinn’s head drop to her shoulder and set her hips curving into her.  The eyes that met hers as Sinn found the strength to lift her head sparkled with the delightful promise of revenge.  “Mmm, that look makes me want to drag you to the plane… unfortunately, we have an audience.”

“All I see, is you,” Sinn whispered softly against the curve of Yoanna’s mouth.  Closing the infinitesimal gap between them, Sinn parted Yoanna lips with hers and ate her way down the line of power that flowed between them until her gentleness earned a soft growl of frustration from her love.

Setting her teeth into the kiss swollen fullness of Sinn’s bottom lips, Yoanna nipped at it none too gently.  “You are going to pay for that later.”

“Counting on it,” Sinn smiled, not in the least bit repentant for turning Yoanna, and herself, on again when they both knew they couldn’t do anything about it.  The paybacks were always amazing.

“And I thought you two were bad!”  Sliding up next to Nicole, Wynonna jabbed the point of her elbow into the taller woman’s side.

Nicole bit her tongue before she gave in to the temptation to tell Wynonna how much worse they were when they managed to find somewhere with good locks.  Somehow she had the feeling that Waverly’s sister would take that as a challenge to hone her lock picking skills or just flat out kick down every door she found locked just to interrupt them.

Nicole found her step towards Sinn halted by a fierce grip on her arm and a small whimper from Waverly.  She had been as awestruck by what they had seen as she had but now her face was tense, fearful, her breath coming in shallow gasps as though she was fighting to keep herself in place.  “Baby, are you okay?”

Waverly looked up, smiling brightly.  “I’m fine, silly,” she gave Nicole’s arm a squeeze and started dragging her towards Sinn and Yoanna.  “Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

“Hmm, your redhead looks troubled.”

Sinn had to agree with Yoanna, something was definitely bothering Nicole for her brow to be creased in confusion like that as she followed Waverly but… “For gods sake, Yoanna, don’t call her that,” Sinn whispered.  “I am not in the mood to get bitch slapped again.”


	16. Chapter 16

Snow was falling again by the time Nicole pulled her cruiser up outside of the Police Station next to Sinn’s bike.  Climbing out, she opened the back door and let Wynonna out.  To say that the eldest Earp was less than impressed by her time in the back of the car… which she said brought back too many bad memories, was an understatement.

Nicole was used to Wynonna’s grouching though, even if sometimes they dug sharply.  She had been trained on how to ignore out the protests of passengers stuck behind the Plexiglas and had blocked out the griping that had started up the moment she had shut the door and Wynonna had worked out that she had been outmanoeuvred out of stealing Sinn’s bike again as well as the chance to interrogate Yoanna or their bodyguard as Sinn and Yoanna had rode off together while Eric had climbed in with Dolls.

Looking up at the night sky, Nicole ignored Wynonna and studied the thick clouds and the light swirl of snow.  At least they just looked like normal snow clouds and didn’t look like they were ready to dump a frozen hell storm right on top of them like they had at the airport.

That whole thing had been so strange, from the snow to the explosion of whatever that was, and there was just no way that any of it wasn’t supernatural in some way or another.  Glancing at Sinn and Yoanna, Nicole watched as the beautiful blonde placed a hand upon Sinn’s shoulder, her fingers touching Sinn’s neck as they talked.  Nicole could tell by the direction of Sinn’s pointed glances that she still wasn’t happy about the decision to come to the station, though she knew that had more to do with B.B.D. than anything.  With a gentle touch and voice though, Nicole could tell that Yoanna was calming Sinn down.

There was no other option of where to talk and the resources to use but Nicole felt sorry for having to put Sinn through it.  When Waverly had gone against her wishes and kept her out of becoming a Deputy with B.B.D., Nicole admitted, she hadn’t been too understanding even though Waverly said it had been to protect her, that she hadn’t understood, that they would have killed her.  All Nicole had seen though was then Waverly hadn’t wanted her to be in that part of her life.  Government agencies didn’t do things like that.

The rejection had stung.

But, after what Sinn had told them… Nicole still thought she could do some good there with their side of B.B.D. but she was scared for the part of it that had a hold of her friends… almost friends… and the woman she loved.

“You okay, baby?”

Nicole looked at Waverly intently.  After how she had acted earlier, she felt sure that that was a question she should have been asking of her.  The sudden mood switch just hadn’t been, her Waverly.  “Yeah, just thinking too much about stuff,” she smiled softly as Waverly moved into the curve of her body and wrapped her arms around her waist.  She brushed a kiss across Waverly’s mouth, pulling back as a strip of light fell across them as the station door opened.

“Well, a good evening to you all!”

“Doc!”

Finding her arms empty, Nicole smiled as Waverly bounded over and gave Doc a hug before brushing past him with a grin to head into the warmth of the station.  Brushing a thumb across her lips, Nicole savoured the lingering tingle from Waverly’s mouth.  A frown creased her brow, her eyes seeking out the outline of Waverly darting past a window.  She… she tasted… different.

“Ladies,” Doc winked and touched the brim of his hat in salute to the two lovely ladies he knew and the two he didn’t.  Though, going by the look of the dark-haired beauty, she was the one he had heard rumours of that had been with the fine Officer in the coffee house and fallen afoul of young Waverly.  As his fingers met nothing by air the reminder of the lack of hat upon his head made him frown in annoyance.  It had been a damned fine hat too!

Hiding his annoyance at that, Doc turned it on the Deputy Marshall as he saw the far too interested look he was giving Wynonna as she made her way towards the door.  “Dolls!” he gritted out.

“Coming, Miss Haught?  I’ve got a fine bottle of whiskey on the go if you want a drink to help chase away this interminable cold weather if you and your guests would like to partake?” he winked.

Nicole grimaced and balked a little at the memory of the last time she had fallen afoul of the gunslinger and his whiskey.

“Doc, you better not have raided my whiskey again!”  Wynonna glared at him as she swung back around the edge of the doorway to glower at him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on the Mentor mentioned for those that don't want to read the story, Sinn.  
> He was part of a secret order set up by the churches to kill vampires (Yoanna was one of the original vampires) and enslave the vampires companions (Sinn is related to the most powerful of them) and make them kill for them. Sinn's mentor married her mother when she was already pregnant and basically tortured Sinn while she was growing up and tried to rape her to get her pregnant.  
> In 'Sinn', he blackmailed her to kill a Vampire or he would kill her friend.  
> The vampire turned out to be a certain sexy blonde that had been watching Sinn from afar since she was 16 and had saved her life... it's a very long story, lol

Caressing the warmth at the nape of Sinn’s neck, Yoanna leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her pulse.  Despite the bitter cold, her love was in no mood to hurry into the Police Station and Yoanna was more than happy to just lend her support until she was ready.

To their side, his body hidden from view by the shadow cast by the hulking black S.U.V., Yoanna could feel the familiar energy of Eric as he kept watch on the goings on around them in the small town.  To their other side, Yoanna could feel the unfamiliar and strangely calming energy of Nicole Haught.  Despite the calm emanating from the redhead, she could see the furrowing of her brow as she looked towards the Station and sighed as she touched her lips.

“There is no need to wait out here in the cold, Nicole.  We will be in shortly.”  At Sinn’s muffled grumble, Yoanna gave her neck a gentle squeeze in rebuke.  “I don’t think, my Sinn here is too eager to step into what she sees as enemy territory,” she explained as Nicole moved a little closer, her hands resting on the front of her utility belt as she leaned back against her car.

“I don’t know about the rest of Black Badge but those lot, they’re good people.”

“You sound like you’re not joining us?”

“I’m just a cop, Sinn, not a part of B.B.D.  Just got to sign off then I’m off duty, need to head home to feed Calamity, my cat,” she smiled as she thought about her ginger tabby.  As comforting as C.J. was at the end of a long day though, Nicole ached to be able to spend the night with Waverly again but she had been spending most of her time at the homestead since Willa’s death.

“Well, that’s that then!”

“Sinn?”  Nicole felt her mouth drop open in shock at Sinn’s growl and sudden move as she threw her leg back over her bike.  Jumping forwards, Nicole stood over the front wheel of the bike and gripped the handlebars as Sinn started it up.

“Nicole, unless ya wanna go for a ride I suggest ya let go!”

With a quick move, Nicole turned off the engine and snatched the key out of ignition.  “No!”

“No?”

“I can’t let you leave, Sinn.  Whatever is going on here, and I know something is, you were brought here for a reason.”

“Officer Haught…”

“Nicole.”

“Nicole.  I can’t work with B.B.D.  I just can’t!”

“Sinn…”

“No, Yoanna.  You don’t understand…”

“Then tell me, my love.  Help me to understand.”

“That mission my Mentor signed me up for with them when I was eighteen… he set me up.  They didn’t just want me in there to capture a Vampire.  There were no Vampires.  They jumped me and tried to rape me.  Yeah, I got them out but it was me that put them down in the first place… I broke arms and legs… I- Yoanna I was so scared I lost it and castrated one of them.  And just so they could pass the message along to the brass at B.B.D. and anyone they wanted to tell, to leave me the hell alone.”

Sinn tried to shrug off Yoanna’s touch but her love was as gentle and persistent as always and for the first time since it had happened, Sinn shed a tear for what she had gone through.  “My Mentor, well you know how charming he was, he made sure I followed their official story that the Vampire we had gone in for had got the drop on them.”

“He beat you didn’t he?”  It was a rhetorical question just for Nicole’s benefit so she could know what Sinn had had to go through.  And with the bastard that had trained her to kill whilst pretending to be her Father… beatings had been a fact of life.

“So much that it just became easier to believe the lie.  I’m sorry but I just can’t do it anymore.  I want to help out here if it’s needed, Nicole but I can’t step inside there and pretend nothing happened.  If it was just me here then maybe but not with you here, Yoanna.  I know I swore never to blindly protect you again but, I can’t not with them, not with… him.”

Nicole’s breath caught a million times as Sinn spoke and froze again at her pain filled whisper.  “Him?  You mean Deputy Marshall Dolls, don’t you?”

“I caught a glimpse of the paperwork on the way out… Dolls… well he wasn’t a Deputy Marshall then, but it was his name on it.  He was the one that had me sent in there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... that went into a direction i wasn't planning o.O
> 
> Always catches me by surprise when my muses turn everything upside down on me.


	18. Chapter 18

Nicole frowned, sadness and anger doing battle within her as she watched Sinn relax completely and accept the comfort of Yoanna’s arms.  She didn’t know Dolls all that well apart from the brief interactions they had had and what she had learned from Waverly.

Part of her though, the part that didn’t want Waverly, or Wynonna, to be near someone that could put them in that kind of danger, that part wanted to rile at Sinn and ask if she was sure about what had happened?

But that was too much like asking a rape victim what they had been wearing like it was their fault for what happened.

“I am so, so sorry, Sinn,” her voice sounded as small and pitiful as her words but she wasn’t sure what else to say or if they had even been heard.  One thing she knew for sure though, she wasn’t going to ask Sinn, a victim of a terrible crime, to step one foot where she didn’t want to.

“Is there a hotel or something around here?”

Nicole thought about the dangerous and less than savoury options available and just how after the P.P.D. had had to visit them because of shooting, drugs and murders lately.  “Come stay at my place.  I’ve got a couple of spare rooms and it will be much safer than anything in town.”

“You think an ex-Marine, a six thousand year old Vampire and… Sinn, need extra protection?”

The pause before Yoanna had said Sinn’s name had Nicole’s eyes widening again, a fissure of fear running down her spine as she wondered just why in the hell it had sounded so ominous that she hadn’t given her a label.  Rather than ask… too many demon ears lurking around and all, Nicole decided to stick a mental pin in it and admit one of her main reasons for the offer.  “Actually, I was kind of hoping that I might be able to get some pointers on what to look for out there before I get called off by… them.  They don’t like it when the locals get involved.”

“Not even, Waverly?”

Nicole’s finger found her lips again as she thought about their kiss.  She sighed the pain and confusion out.  “Especially not, Waverly.  Wait, you’re six thousand years old?”

“Well more really, maybe eight, but I stopped counting at six,” Yoanna grinned slightly at Nicole’s incredulous expression.  Cupping Sinn’s face between her hands, Yoanna teased her with gentle caresses into meeting her gaze.  There was usually a moment like this with Sinn after she finally come to terms with something that had upset her, whether a new or an old hurt, and actually told her, where she would go quiet and reflective while she reset herself and processed everything.  The reset could come with self-derisive humour and sarcasm, the need to reconnect with her with body and power, which was Yoanna’s personal favourite.  And sometimes, very rarely, as seemed to be the case this time, she simply shut down.  “Baby, you okay with staying at Nicole’s place?”

“Yeah,” Sinn whispered softly, “just don’t wanna be here.”

“Any chance I can persuade you to ride with Nicole?”

“Nope.  Not that out of it…”

“Yet.  Well scoot on back then.”  Yoanna tapped on Sinn’s thigh until she made room for her to throw her leg over.  She loved riding pillion with Sinn when they found the time.  Loved been able to wrap her arms around her lover feel the subtle shifting of muscles as she controlled the powerful machine.  She also loved been able to tease, running her hands beneath Sinn’s clothing until Sinn’s whimpers carried back on the air to meet her ears and her body turned molten despite Sinn’s efforts to control herself.

Just as when they were making love though, Yoanna liked to switch and be the one controlling the bike and at the mercy of Sinn’s teasing.  Though in all fairness, Sinn was usually more restrained with the teasing than she was, but Yoanna found just been close to her, Sinn’s body pressed against her back, her thighs pressed against hers, that could be just as much a torment to her senses.

“I’ll just go book myself out… won’t be a minute,” Nicole called out as she jogged towards the door.  More than booking out though, Nicole wanted to let Waverly know in person where she was going, maybe she would want to ride home with her for a change.

“Oh god!  Doc!  You scared me!”  Nicole sucked in a startled breath and clutched at his jacket as he steadied her.

“My apologises, Miss Haught.  I did not want to intrude.”

Nicole studied him intently.  She knew he kept up on who was on duty and that she preferred to just be Nicole once her shift was over but he was flustered… no, she realised, he was downright pissed off to the point that his moustache looked like it was about to fly off his face.  Piercing blue eyes glanced back towards the door to the street and Nicole knew even before she realised that the direction of the wind was carrying Eric and Yoanna’s voices clearly as they talked.  “You heard?”

“Indeed, I did.”  Looking past the young redhead, Doc glanced through the door at the two women.  He didn’t know them but, even if Nicole didn’t seem to trust them in a way he expected more from Waverly Earp, his blood would have been boiling from what he had heard.  He had no real love for the Deputy Marshall but he had thought he was an honourable man!  “You should go, take care of your friends.  I will **see** to everything here and let young Waverly know you would enjoy some company later.”

“That is very kind of you, Doc but I still need to sign myself out properly before I can leave.”

“Already taken care of,” he winked unashamedly for braking Police procedure on behalf of the usually diligent Officer.  He still felt she needed to loosen up a bit more often… especially if she was going to survive Wynonna.  And even she had finally admitted that the delayed two day hangover had been worth taking down a gang of thugs that had broken into the station the last time he had plied her with whiskey.

“I should arrest you,” shaking her head, Nicole tried but failed to hold in a smile of thanks as his eyes twinkled at her with roguish humour.  Behind the twinkle she could see the dangerous anticipation for a fight building as his eyes touched upon Sinn again.  “Doc… if you could see your way to keeping fights within B.B.D. offices it would be appreciated.  The Sheriff still glares at me for going through his door last time.”

“That was concern for his best Deputy’s wellbeing and well you know it.”

“His only Deputy,” Nicole pointed out.  “And if I go down, Nedley will be left do deal with cows escaping from the old Tate property every weekend and whoever keeps flying that damn drone over the girls dance studio,” seeing the blank expression on his face at the mention of ‘drones’, Nicole smiled and waved her hands.  “That doesn’t matter… just… try not to break anything on my side of the offices, please, Doc?”

“Well now, I will surely do my best, but I can’t promise too much.  You have a good evening now, Nicole.”

“That man really needs to get a new hat,” Nicole muttered under her breath as the lack of brim to salute again had him sucking on his teeth in exasperation and yanking his long jacket around himself as he marched back towards the Black Badge offices.

The good, dutiful, Officer in Nicole felt that she should probably intervene before there was any bloodshed but… well Doc was basically an immortal gunslinger and Dolls was apparently a lizard or fire breathing dragon, or something.  Both of them were more than capable of looking after themselves and Wynonna would be there to make sure things didn’t go too far.  Nicole on the other hand felt right then that her duty lay with helping the two women outside.

Nicole watched them for a moment.  Sinn was looking a little more alert but still looked too close to collapse for Nicole’s liking.  She wondered if been on the back of a bike was the right thing for her to be doing but Yoanna and Eric seemed to be okay with it and surely they knew her better.

All three of them stiffened, an awareness coming over them that was just plain supernatural is its suddenness.  Never mind deer in the headlights, it made Nicole feel like some defenceless creature thrown to a pack of hungry wolves and she wasn’t even the one that had drawn their attention.

Nicole recognised the figure that came from behind the S.U.V. from surveillance photographs Waverly had taken when she had been staking out Bobo Del Rey’s trailer park.  Her hand slid towards her gun as his eyes started to glow red… not that it would kill him even if she did use it.  Reventants had a way of not staying down unless Wynonna put them down with her gun.

The revenants threatening posture dropped away as he took in the two women and they turned their eyes upon him.  Nicole had seen their eyes, she found them fascinating and beautiful.  Going by the slack jawed terror on his face and the dark wet stain of piss spreading down the leg of his pants, the revenant didn’t agree with her assessment of their eyes.

Eric rolled his eyes as the man screamed in fear and turned and ran away as best as he could in the icy conditions.  He looked at Yoanna and Sinn, maybe he was just more used to their moods or the guy was just chicken shit but, they hadn’t even given him their most intimidating looks.  When they turned that on it still made him shiver and probably would have had the screamer running straight through a brick wall in an attempt to get away from them.  “You know, I’m your head of security… I’m supposed to be the one people get scared of, right?”

“Aww, and I so wanted to say hi,” Yoanna smirked.

Sinn’s lack of smart-assed comment on what had happened told Eric just how fragile she still was right then.  There was no doubt in his mind that if needed she could still kick ass just as good as ever.  That was just, Sinn.  Right then though, he needed to do his duty as their security and friend and get them to where Yoanna could help pull her out of it all.  “Officer, are we good to go?”

Nicole took one last look back towards the station, wishing, hoping, that the door would open and Waverly would be there to join her.  Seconds past and Nicole sighed, her body drooping in disappointment before she pulled herself back upright and wrapped herself up tight in layers upon layers of control to hold herself together.  “Yeah, let’s get going.”


	19. Chapter 19

Dolls looked up from the paperwork he was shuffling through as the door to the Black Badge swung open and closed again with a none too gentle clatter that rattled the glass in the door.  “Doc,” drawling the name, Dolls looked at the gunslinger, taking in his aggressive stance as well as the absence of Sinn, Yoanna and their bodyguard, Eric.  “Where are they?”

“Miss Haught is escorting them back to her place to stay.”  Sauntering through the offices, Doc kept his narrowed gaze locked upon Dolls but even so it was hard not to notice the glance Waverly threw towards the door or the soft frown on her face when she saw no light on at Nicole’s desk as she looked through the window.  “They haven’t left yet Waverly… I got the distinct impression that Nicole would be more than happy if you wanted to join them.”

“I…” Waverly swallowed as the rising tide of darkness rose up within her, niggling at everything she thought to be true and pointed out with a hissing snakelike whisper that if Nicole really had wanted her with them, she could have asked.  She knew it wasn’t true!  She knew that if she could just find the strength to get up and go, that Nicole’s loving smile and warm touch would be waiting for her!  But the voice kept on, eating at her with painful memories…

Momma leaving…

Willa torturing her when she was little…

Daddy’s lack of interest in her…

How he couldn’t look at her…

Wynonna leaving…

Champ’s cheating…

“Oh, Waverly… you’re not even an, Earp.”…

Nicole was her light amongst all the pain.  Telling her she was smart, listening to her intently no matter what the conversation was about.  The way she held and touched her, those heated glances from beautiful, caring, brown eyes, like she was the most precious thing in the world.  Nicole would do anything for her, would love her no matter what.

The darkness twisted inside her, holding Waverly captive within her seat until out of the darkness she heard the sound of Nicole’s car starting up and saw the sweep of lights playing across the windows as it pulled away from the Police Station and the darkness won a bit more or her.  “That’s okay, I’ll see her tomorrow,” she smiled.

Frowning, Wynonna looked up from her phone and stared at Waverly.  Her voice… what was wrong with her voice?  She had never heard her baby sister sound like that before.  Even when Waverly had thought she had been about to sleep with Champ she had been bubbly while blasting a shotgun at her.  What she had just heard though, or thought she had heard, was Waverly’s voice gone dark and dripping with more ice than had frozen the engines of the plane earlier.

Before Wynonna could question her sister though she became belatedly aware of the danger in Doc’s body language as he walked back and forth across the offices like he was trying to goad Dolls into drawing.  “Doc, what the hell is going on?”

“Maybe you should ask the Deputy Marshall that!”

“I have no idea what you’re getting at, Holliday…”

“I overheard Sinn telling Miss Haught about what happened between herself and Black Badge… and your part in it!  Or are you going to deny it?”

Unable to meet the accusation in Docs eyes, Dolls hung his head in shame and gripped the edge of his desk.  “I can’t… it was my idea that put her there.”

Doc moved so fast, a roar of anger bellowing from deep within, that Wynonna barely even had chance to realise something was happening before Dolls was flying backwards under the weight of the brutal punch Doc had landed right under his jaw.  “Doc?!”  Her shout of astonishment was ignored as Doc launched himself after Dolls and kicked, punched and tossed him around before mounting him and started raining blows down upon Doll’s face and body with heavy punches as Dolls just lay there and took it.

“Dude!  What the fuck!”  Grabbing Doc’s arm mid swing, Wynonna pulled and spun him away from the other man.  “Calm down.  Dolls told us what went down between Sinn and B.B.D.”

Doc froze, staring at the brunette incredulously as she smiled at him.  “And… you’re okay with it?”

“He just came up with the idea, Doc.  That’s all.”

“That is all?  Oh Wynonna, that was far from all!  I do not believe that Dolls is telling you everything if you can be so blasé about you or Waverly’s wellbeing about been around a **_man_** that comes up with the **_idea_** to have a woman raped.”

“What?”  Half sitting up, Dolls tried to make sense of what Doc was saying.  “Doc, I would never do anything like that!”  Coughing, he fingered his busted lip and spat blood on to the floor as Wynonna told Doc what he had told her about Sinn’s dealings with B.B.D.

“I saw the trauma in that young woman’s eyes, I believe her side of the story.  Which leads me to wonder if Dolls is lying out of his ass or if his employers were about their intentions as there were no Vampires to be captured in that building you sent her in to and the men that went with her… they tried to rape her, Dolls!”

“That wasn’t what she told us,” Waverly muttered in concern as she realised just how matter of fact Sinn had been about it.  Too controlled, the details coming from her like she was reading from a menu.  “She just said that it had gone wrong and she had been threatened.  And that B.B.D. had had a hand in with what went down in England last year.”

“I do not know anything of England but as to her story differing… Trauma will do that, Waverly.  She was beaten, tortured, and made to block it out.  A thing like that can make a person admit to anything or believe anything to stop the pain.  The thought of been in the same room as the man whose name she saw on orders to rape her, shook it all loose again.  Her pain and anguish were genuine, Waverly.”

Docs anger, for Dolls at least, faded away as he saw the horror on the mans face.  He was a dick of the highest order sometimes, and Doc didn’t trust him completely, but he did have principals… usually.  Sticking out a hand, he found more pleasure than he should have in Dolls jerking backwards before finally taking his hand so he could yank him up to his feet.  “I do believe, Agent Dolls, that you will have all kinds of explanations and apologies to make to that girl… if she will let you.”


	20. Chapter 20

Hearing the soft tread of feet upon the stairs, Sinn kept her eyes closed and looked outwards with her power even though she knew that it was Nicole.  The pillow of flesh beneath her head stirred as Yoanna shifted around slightly as her long fingers stroked rhythmically along the path of her vein down the left side of her throat, spreading warmth and power through her.

In reality it was no more and no less important than any other vein or artery but symbolically all the pulse points on the left of the body were considered to be more connected to the heart.  It was why the wedding band was typically on that side.  One thing Sinn couldn’t deny was that when Yoanna paid attention to those areas where the blood ran closest to the surface, with a touch, kiss or by drinking… it just felt more special like an extra whisper of love.

Nicole studied the couple as she sat down.  Sinn had been quiet since they had got there but despite Nicole’s suggestion, Yoanna had settled her on the couch instead of making use of one of the spare bedrooms.  “How’s she doing?” she whispered as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Sinn.

“I’m fine,” Sinn whispered back, smiling softly as Nicole’s aura jumped back in surprise.  “Though, I am starting to think your cat is planning on killing me the first chance she gets.”  Pointing up, Sinn gestured to the big fluffy ginger cat watching her from the back of the couch.

Nicole smiled, teeth catching on her lip as Calamity Jane rubbed her cheek against Yoanna’s offered fingers before returning to staring down at Sinn.  Usually C.J. was friendlier when it came to women but one sniff at Sinn and she had fluffed up so much she had almost doubled in size before making a dash for the space behind the recycle bin in the kitchen.

Nicole had been left standing there, confused by C.J.’s unusual reaction and slightly flabbergasted by Yoanna’s chuckled comment that Calamity could probably smell wolf on her still.  She’s always heard that Werewolves preferred to keep to themselves but apparently Sinn was comfortable and intimate enough with one to pick up their scent.  And she’d thought that Purgatory was a strange place.

Holding her breath, Nicole watched as C.J. unfurled herself from her position on the back of the couch and walked along with her tail raised high to drop down on Yoanna’s lap.  Purring loudly, her cat kneaded at the Vampire’s lap before settling down with her feet tucked up under her and proceeded to swish her tail, slowly, deliberately, back and forth across Sinn’s face much to Yoanna’s amusement obvious amusement as she ran a delicate hand though Calamity’s soft fur to caress the side of her face.

Nicole wondered if Sinn might protest Calamity’s abuse but the most it got was an eye roll as C.J.’s tail stilled… right under Sinn’s nose to give her a moustache to rival Doc’s.

Leaning down, Yoanna ignored C.J,’s tail, skimmed her lips across the line of Sinn’s jaw and gently nipped at the lobe of her ear.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Much,” she smiled reassuringly, still not opening her eyes.  “Just trying to work out how much power I’ve got access too right now.  Killed me not to be able to feel you,” she admitted, trying to hold back the tear that sprung up and squeeze out past closed lids.

“I know my love.”

At the word, Nicole sat forward in her chair eagerly.  “Could you tell me more about this power?  Was that what the ball of light was at the airport?”

“You can take that one,” Sinn chuckled quietly.  “You have a much better understanding of it that I do.”

“Hmm?”

“Okay, and I love to listen to you talk.”  Grinning unrepentantly, Sinn tried to remove Calamity’s ginger tail from her face as she settled down on her back.

“I’m going to assume you are an open person when it comes to things like this.  Even if you weren’t living in, Purgatory I believe you would be.  If you have any questions though, feel free to ask and if I can I will answer.”

“Okay,” sitting back in her chair, Nicole nursed her mug of herbal tea.  She wondered if she shouldn’t have gotten something stronger as she looked across into the glowing cruelean blue of Yoanna’s eyes.  Standing at just over five foot in her bare feet she was tiny.  Right then though, even though she didn’t seem to do much, the presence of her made the room feel tiny and had every hair on Nicole’s body standing on end.  The air felt alive, tingling with a gentle warmth against her skin.  “Wow,” she breathed softly.

Yoanna caught the glimmer of Sinn’s eyes as they cracked open at Nicole’s response to the feel of her power.  It matched up with what they had both sensed about Nicole when they had looked at her aura.

The brightness and the deepness of the colour was an indication that she was closer to Sinn and Ella in her power base than someone like Eric that almost burned white and had none.  But it was only an indication and usually only prolonged exposure to their using it would enable her to be able to feel it, and feel it as something pleasant and not something to fear and piss herself over like the revenant had.

It could also explain why her usually untrusting lover had taken to Nicole so readily under such a stressful and confusing time.  The feel of something so familiar amongst the lurking darkness caused by the demonic powers that controlled the area was very soothing, Yoanna had felt that for herself when she had met her.  And that was before been met with that ridiculously open face and cute dimpled smile that could charm the devil.  It was a smile that had been pretty much missing though since they had left the Police Station… well, since she had left Waverly behind.

Waverly Earp.  Now that was someone that confused her.  And not because she had slapped, Sinn down.  On the surface she was bright and bubbly but that slap and the way she looked when she thought no one was looking screamed to Yoanna that there was a side to her with a lot of depth and darkness.  Yoanna wasn’t sure if it was because their powers weren’t behaving as normal and that was why the young woman’s aura kept shifting.

“That was a just taste of our power,” Yoanna smiled at the look of wonderment on the redheads face.  She hid the trembling of her hand caused by just calling that small amount, behind a caress of Sinn’s shoulder.  “Everything on earth, even the planet itself is made up of power.  Much of it is… nature based, I guess is the best description.  That is what Sinn and I control and share.  That at the airport was, again, really only a taste of what we can do.  Whatever happened to cause Sinn to get dragged from my side has weakened us greatly.  Been here doesn’t help as the main power source here is a dark form and it doesn’t like us but I do not believe it is the main problem for us.  We needed to reconnect though… and what better way for a couple in love to reconnect than through sex?”

Nicole tried not to sigh too loudly as she thought about a certain brunette that she wanted to be reconnecting with.  “So, you have to be… intimate with each other to do something like that?”

“No, not really… it is easier at that moment though as we are more open to each other.  It can be a bit… explosive at that time though,” pausing, Yoanna glowered towards Nicole’s kitchen as Eric gave a choked bark of laughter from within.  “Have you managed to get through to the mansion yet, Eric?”

“Still working on it!”

Nicole looked back and forth between the kitchen and Yoanna.  She wanted Yoanna to get back to explaining things but… damn, she was curious as to what had made him… “How explosive?” she asked, concerned as to what that could mean.

“Windows tend to suffer the most,” Yoanna admitted with a grin as she thought about just how many they had blown out since they had been sharing power.  “We are not a danger though.  Our power heightens our abilities, or strengthens us and helps us to protect.  We are better at controlling that now though… the explosion… when we share.  Earlier though I had no will or desire to do anything other than getting close to, my Sinn,” looking down at Sinn, Yoanna gently skimmed a line of power across the familiar lines of her lovers face until green eyes opened fully and shone up at her with all her love.  “We are soul mates, Nicole, been without her… it physically hurts.”

The air in the room grew heavier again until Nicole wondered if she would be able to touch the thickness of it and rub it into her skin.  She glanced away, trying to give them privacy, but her eyes kept moving back to them.  They weren’t even really doing much, just looking at each other and gently touching each other’s faces.  But the looks they were giving each other were so heated and over flowing with love, and the gentle touches were somehow more passionate and intimate than if they had gone into a full on make out session on the couch.

Reluctantly, Eric cleared his throat to get the couples attention.  “Sorry.  Are you planning on going out tonight?”

Yoanna had no need to look at the clock to know the time.  Not even the depths of winter could hide the progress of the sun from her even though it no longer had any say in when she needed to sleep or kept her from been out on even the sunniest of days.  Even so, they usually preferred to sleep during the day as that was the schedule their bodies were more used to.  “No, not tonight, Eric.  My Sinn is in need of rest so I think we will turn in early tonight and go on to Nicole’s schedule while we are here.”

“Mine?”

“You will be helping us, will you not?”

“Sure… I would love to… I just wasn’t sure if I could be any help,” Nicole admitted.

“We don’t know the area or the people the way you do, Nicole.  Your help will be invaluable.”

“I’ll have a word with the Sheriff in the morning and persuade him.”

“If he complains… tell him I’m deputizing you.”

Nicole glanced back at Sinn, wondering if she had even heard her speak as she was just lying there so still even though Calamity had decided to make use of her stomach as a pillow and was aggressively kneading her.  “You can do that?”

“She remembered on the ride here,” Yoanna rolled her eyes.  “Black Badge hold a lot of sway but Hunters apparently hold even more with the law.  And as we’ve got backups of her documents with us, and it’s all still legal even here… if you want…”

“As long as you need me… I’m all in,” Nicole interrupted without hesitation.  “Saves me having to bunk off shifts to do it anyway,” she grinned, relishing the prospect of helping them.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more of Sinn/Yoanna background info and a bit of Wayhaught action as the muses were getting thirsty from some time together... which might continue in the next chapter.

Leaning back against her pillows, Nicole tried not to let her gaze linger too long on the empty space beside her in the bed.  Not that Waverly’s side could ever be truly empty with how many extra pillow she had there.  That woman loved a decorative pillow.  And Nicole love buying new ones for her collection just so she could fill her home with things that belonged to Waverly.  They helped on the nights they were parted by work to be able to hold one while she slept, but it had been so long that they were starting to lose Waverly’s scent.

Sighing, Nicole grabbed one anyway and buried her nose in it while turning to the next page in the book she was reading.  It was one she had had for a couple of months but had never gotten around to even thinking of reading until Yoanna had plucked it off the shelf and told her to start on chapter five.

It was a strange book, flowery in prose but the author, a psychic called Rosita, claimed the events to have actually happened.  Nicole had gotten halfway through the chapter Yoanna had directed her too before she realised what she was reading and started it again.  It was there, she knew it was, disguised behind false names and reading like some fairy-tale or cheap science fiction novel… it was the all about Yoanna… Vampires.

With a careful eye for detail that had served her well in her job, Nicole read on, picking out the important details from amongst the text, led along by what she had gleaned from Yoanna.

How the Vampires had been created by the Fae.

How their Companions had been created to love and grow with them.

How the Church’s had grown to fear them and had ripped them apart from each other.  Turning Companions against Vampires and breeding them to create future generations to fight them.

Nina Nikolova… The most powerful of the companions.  Recognising the surname, Nicole latched on to her story, knowing it would tell her more about Sinn.  She had been taken before her wedding and thought to have been killed as her bloodline had vanished from record… from human records anyway.  Her descendants had been taken into protection by the Fae but because of unrest amongst the Fae the few remaining had been kicked out into the world to die.

Apart from one… a baby.  She had grown up in care, not knowing what she was.  She had fallen in love and gotten pregnant but the father, an Elf of all things! had vanished.

The details became suddenly sketchy after that as though the author had been forced to remove details.  Nicole could tell there was more to the story though.  And going by the timeline and Yoanna calling Sinn, Catherine Nikolova, Nicole had no trouble following the connections laid out right to the dark haired woman sleeping in her spare bedroom.

Closing the book, Nicole placed it on her bedside table without even looking to see if it would land safe or fall to the floor.  Turning off the light, she snuggled down under the covers and lay there, Waverly’s pillow clasped to her as she stared up at the ceiling and tried to absorb everything she had read.

It was certainly a lot.  And most of it seemed too fanciful to be true.  And yet… Nicole believed it.  Admitting it helped her to relax somewhat but didn’t stop her from listening in to the sounds of strangers in her house.  Nicole heard the quiet click of the front door and grew hopeful… until she heard the quiet murmur of a masculine voice and realised it was Eric getting back from his ‘recon’ of the area.

Softer, feminine voices whispered gently, carrying through the stillness of the house.  Nicole couldn’t hear what was been said and didn’t want to.  The unmistakable sounds of tremulous sighs and moans and the soft tap of the headboard hitting the wall as they ‘reconnected’ had her burying her face against Waverly’s mountain of pillows and pulling the covers up over her head as the sounds made her miss Waverly even more.

“I’ve missed you too, baby.”

Nicole smiled, liquid heat spreading through her body as Waverly’s gloriously naked body slid against hers in a sensual glide as she rolled her onto her back and straddled her waist.  Nimble fingers plucked the pillow Nicole had been hugging and tossed it aside.

Nicole cared less about the pillow or anything else apart from Waverly right then though.  She moved to sit up, to claim those softly smiling lips but Waverly’s hand pressed her back against the mattress and she came to her.  Lips caressing hers, pulling a moan from deep inside.  Those knowing fingers caressed along her jaw and throat, gently running through the hair at the nape of her neck, tugging slightly as Nicole ran her hands along the smooth strength of Waverly’s thighs and hips, sliding up under her thumbs rested either side of her ribcage and nudged the underside of her breasts.

Hooking Waverly’s leg with hers, Nicole rolled them over until she was on top without even breaking their kiss.  Settling into the cradle of Waverly’s body, Nicole released another thick moan into her mouth as Waverly tilted her hips just right so they fit together perfectly.

The undulation of Waverly’s hips created a delicious friction and tension that left Nicole panting and moaning against Waverly’s shoulder, her fingers fluttering against Waverly’s waist as her nails dragged across her shoulders and back.  Desperately, Nicole tried to regain control and slow them down but Waverly refused by be contained and worked her to a fever pitch of need like only she knew how to.  “Oh god, Waves!”

“God you’re so beautiful.  Cum for me, baby.  That’s it!”

Thrusting wildly against her, Nicole shouted her release as she collapsed against Waverly’s body in a quivering heap.  Arms wrapped around her, fingers sliding through the sweat trickling down her spine.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more Wayhaught action... which was supposed to be Nicole's turn but Waverly was greedy.

Nicole could feel the smile of triumph upon Waverly’s lips as they kissed across her jaw and knew it was because she had fallen apart for her so quickly.  She loved to do that, get under her control… and if it was in an inappropriate place that was all the sweeter for her.  Which was why Nicole had had to insist on a rule of ‘not in uniform, not in public’.

Nicole tried to raise up a little so as not to squash Waverly but her arms were shaking too much and Waverly was apparently in no mood to let her go anyway.  Legs wrapped tightly around her waist, tightening until Nicole relented with a chuckled exhale of breath and relaxed against her.

“I wish you were really here, Waves.”

“I am, silly.”

Nicole nipped at the curve of Waverly’s lips.  “You know what I mean.  I love this, I love any moment with you… but I miss you when I wake up and find our bed empty.”

‘Our bed’, the words made Waverly’s heart soar almost as much as Nicole’s words of love did.  With all the crazy going on, Waverly felt so lost and confused.  She hadn’t seen what had happened at the gateway and part of her felt guilty about that, for not been there to comfort Wynonna after she had been forced to kill their big sister.  And she also felt sorry for not feeling worse about Willa been gone but, damn it, Willa had been a terrible sister before she was kidnapped and after she was returned she was worse!

**_She shot my girlfriend!_ **

Waverly could still here the loud retort of the gun filling the room and could still see the heart-breaking sight of Nicole crashing back against the wall as the bullet had slammed into her chest and then falling face first to the ground.

Thanks to been super smart though, Nicole had been wearing a bullet proof vest and apart from been battered and bruised was okay.  That didn’t stop Waverly from having nightmares about a different outcome though if Nicole hadn’t been wearing a vest or if she had tried to reassure Waverly that she was and caused Willa to switch targets to her head.

When the nightmares came so did the dark hissing voice.  It whispered through her head sounding like the coils of a giant snake moving through gravel, poisoning her thoughts as it coiled closer and closer, telling her it was all her fault for allowing Nicole to get too close to the danger in the first place.  She should have kept her safe and away from it… away from herself and the curse that hung over them.  Telling her she didn’t deserve a love like that.

The nightmares, the doubts that plagued Waverly while she was sleeping or awake, nothing could touch her while she was locked in dreams with Nicole though.  This was their safe place and Waverly felt whole and loved.  And, now that Nicole knew about it and how to control herself… there was no longer any need for Waverly to take it slowly for fear of waking Nicole and losing her how she had used to.

Which was a good thing, for many reasons, but right then because Nicole was getting that look in her eyes.  That beautiful, knowing and needy look that said payback was coming for making her lose control so quickly.

The look caught Waverly’s breath in anticipation.  The steady increase of pressure as Nicole rocked and twisted her hips into her set her body on fire.  As much as she craved the thought of Nicole taking back control… Waverly wasn’t quite ready to hand it back.  Not when there was so many more things she wanted to do.

Placing a hand on Nicole’s hip, Waverly paused her motion and took advantage, slipping her thigh between Nicole’s legs as her ever attentive lover looked to her to see what was wrong.  The question on her lips quivered to a breathy sigh of her name as Waverly pressed her leg in tight, spreading Nicole’s legs for her pleasure as she deftly regained control.  “Not done with you yet, baby.”

Nicole would have loved to have pointed out that they could take their time but thinking and speaking were impossible as Waverly played her body perfectly with deft movements of her thigh pressing and sliding against already sensitive nerve endings just how she knew she liked it.  Especially when those nimble fingers and eager mouth created extra points of pleasure and tension wherever they touched and teased that had Nicole clutching at the bed in desperation as Waverly pushed her higher and higher and pulled her close as she fell apart again.

As Nicole started to sag, Waverly pushed on her shoulder, urging her over on to her back.  Touching and kissing her gently, Waverly savoured those moments before Nicole regained focused and delighted in the quivers of orgasm still rippling through her to bow her spine.  Capturing a fiery strand a red hair that clung to the sweat on Nicole’s brow, Waverly ran it between her fingers before pushing it back towards her ear.

Using her control over their dreams, Waverly filled the air with the flicker of candlelight just so she could watch the way it danced across the dips and curves of Nicole’s pale body.  She traced the dance of light with her fingers and lips.  Tasting the light saltiness of her sweat and that honey-vanilla that was pure Nicole under it.  Everything about her, Waverly found addictive.  The looks she gave her with those gorgeous eyes.  The softness of her voice.  Those dimples that made an already perfectly stunning smile a lethal weapon.  Those impossibly long legs that shortened their stride to match hers and wrapped around her just right.  Waverly knew she could spend the rest of her life listing all the things she loved about, Nicole Haught and found addictive, and still would have things to add to the list every day.  Right then though her main addiction, the one that had her mouth watering and body aching… was taste.

“Nicole, baby?”

“Y- yeah?” Nicole tried to focus her eyes on Waverly and stilled, her breath catching at the heat of hunger in her hazel eyes and the shy almost nervous way her lip was catching on her teeth.  Fingers caressed the line of her throat and trailed down to dance around her breasts.  The heat radiating from Waverly’s touch made Nicole’s brain stutter again and left her blinking at the expectant look on her face.  “Erm, sorry Waves, could you say that again?”

Rolling her eyes at how easily Nicole had been distracted from her question, Waverly gave the pale dusky bud of her nipple a pinch.  “Focus, baby,” she chided.  Chewing on her lip, Waverly squirmed a little as she tried to find the words again under the weight of those eyes focussing upon her.  Darn it, she had never found it all that easy to give voice to her desires.

“Hey, it’s okay, Waves,” smiling softly, Nicole ran a hand along Waverly’s arm and shoulder to cup her cheek.  “Whatever you want, just ask, baby.”

Sucking in a breath at Nicole’s gentle encouragement, Waverly decided to just get it all out there.  “It’s just… well I know how sensitive you get after cumming so hard like that… but… well… I would really, really like… to taste you.”  As the words rushed out, Waverly’s eyes followed the nervous fluttering path of her fingers as they danced down and came to rest upon Nicole’s hip.

Nicole’s body went still but a glance into those wide brown eyes only emboldened Waverly.  Skimming her fingers around, Waverly swirled a delicate pattern across the tight skin of her abdomen and dipped slowly lower, eliciting a shuddering gasp from her.  God, she was so deliciously wet for her.  “Please, Nicole?”

Unable to speak past the spiralling desire from Waverly’s knowing touch and the thought of feeling her mouth upon her, Nicole did the only things she could.  She spread her legs wider for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope there's weren't too many mistakes. Having trouble seeing right now and focussing on the screen hurts o.O


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of morning after calm before the storm.

Still feeling the delicious ache in her body from a night spent with her love, Nicole stifled a soft moan as every twist and turn forced over worked muscles into action as she had to make on the way towards the kitchen where she could hear the quiet sound of voices and smell the enticing scent of freshly brewed coffee calling her like a siren song.

Pouring a mug from the softly bubbling machine, Nicole propped a hip against the counter and murmured softly into the steam as she sipped on it.

“Rough night, Nicole?”

Nicole cracked open an eye at the soft teasing in Yoanna’s voice.  She tried to deny it but just taking a breath to do so made her clothes tighten and had a moan slip out that she tried to hide in her coffee.  God but she was not looking forward to snapping her utility belt on at all.  Looking at Yoanna just made her groan more.

Standing there looking all perfectly poised and regal, and after all the moaning she had heard from their bedroom too!  Sinn, Nicole was happy to see, looked to be in a dazed state much like her own.  But, Nicole was happy to see that her eyes had that happy glazed look of ‘my girlfriend just put me through hell in the most amazing way’, as she sat at the table in the middle of the small kitchen, and not the almost catatonic, P.T.S.D. way she had been before.

“I slept good,” which was true enough, when they shared dreams like that it was always the most refreshing of sleeps but… well getting up early was something she forced herself to do more than something she enjoyed, especially after coming off irregular shifts, and all that rigorous love making left a mark now that they were a couple even if it happened on a different plane of existence, or wherever it happened.  She was still fuzzy on that part of dream walking and even Waverly was reduced to shrugging even after extensive research.  They just knew it worked for them.

“Glad one of us did,” Sinn muttered into her own mug to hide her grin.  “Someone felt the need to reconnect more.”

“Yes… you!  You jumped me first woman so don’t even try the innocent act,” Yoanna gently scolded as she gave a lock of Sinn’s hair a gentle tug.  “Will Waverly be joining us or is she still recovering?”

“She, er, she didn’t come over last night.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Yoanna whispered quietly.  Their power might be off but she knew what she had heard and knew what she could smell.

“What?”  Eyes growing wide, Nicole pressed back against the counter as the petit blonde vampire suddenly got far too close and all up in her personal space with a look on her face that was far too knowing.  And did she just sniff her?

“Yoanna.  Personal boundaries, love,” Sinn admonished her gently, with a soft chuckle at the wide-eyed expression on Nicole’s face.  “Vampires, Nicole… one thing they never tell you about them in all the books,” Sinn smirked softly.  “They have an annoyingly excellent sense of smell for more than just blood.”

“And you, Nicole,” Yoanna continued, eying her appraisingly as she deliberately gave an audible sniff that made Nicole twitch.  “You, smell of Waverly Earp.  Even though you’ve showered I can smell her against you skin.”  She could also smell the heavy scent of arousal clinging to Nicole but going by the way she was swallowing nervously, Yoanna decided to take pity on her and kept that to herself.

“You were very, very loud last night,” Sinn grinned.  “Eric is particularly grouchy right now… says he didn’t get a wink of sleep and he misses, Mel, his fiancée.  Not sure why seem to be the only one paying for that though,” Sinn grouched as she went back to her coffee.

Nicole felt the burning in her cheeks under the weight of Yoanna’s speculative blue eyes.  She wanted to tell them, especially as they were been so open about what they were, which was a hell of a refreshing change to how everyone in Purgatory treated anything supernatural.  But… Waverly hadn’t even told her sister that she could dreamwalk.  Nicole didn’t want to betray that trust by just blurting out Waverly’s secrets.

Nicole latched on to Sinn’s words like a lifeline… and also out of curiosity.  Clearing her throat, she stepped sideways away from Yoanna and her assessing gaze.  “Paying for it?”

Yoanna smiled as their new ‘friend’ sidestepped herself and dodged to change the subject.  It was a move that obviously didn’t come easily for someone that just exuded honesty.  “It is lucky you got up when you did.  I thought we would have to wake you up to warn you so you didn’t think a war had broken out on your doorstep.  We’re going to be putting Sinn through a workout… see if we can’t figure out what her power levels are right now.”

“Still enough to take your pretty ass down,” Sinn grumbled slightly.

“Oh, and when was the last time you managed to do that… outside of the bedroom?” tangling her hand in Sinn’s hair, Yoanna tugged on it again with just enough pressure to make Sinn’s eyes flash in the early morning light.

“Fine, never,” Sinn admitted with a grin.  “I will work out how to get out of that hold one day though.”

“I have got more than the one, my love.  If you ever work that one out I will just switch it up,” she grinned.  “You are more than welcome to come watch if you want, Nicole.  It might help you to understand our powers more to see what we can do in person.”

“A hint of what we can do anyway,” Sinn grimaced.  “I still feel pretty weak compared to normal,”

“We will figure it out, my love,” Yoanna stroked Sinn’s soothingly and tried to keep the concern out of her voice and off her face.  Yoanna loved Sinn no matter how much power either of them had.  They were just meant to be together and nothing could change that.

When it came to their brand of power though, Yoanna was the source of it, or at least one of the strongest parts.  Sinn was nearly as strong, all raw untamed power, she was also the catalyst for them been able to share it amongst their people.  Through her, through them, they had been able to reclaim most of what they had been before the Churches had ripped them apart.

It worried them both what it might mean for everyone else, especially the weakest ones, to suddenly be cut off from them if they lost it completely.  That worry was making Sinn very reluctant to find out how bad it was even though they knew they needed to know.  Before she had boarded the plane to return her to Sinn’s side, Yoanna had seen how it was already affecting everyone at the mansion and in Bitten too.  Sinn though, Sinn was taking the hit the hardest.

“Ready when you are, My Queen.”

“Eric, I know you are officially on duty until we get this sorted but please, I think we are past the ‘Queen’ stuff.  Now, you,” she ran the back of her finger across Sinn’s jaw and gave her a reassuring smile.  “Ready to get your ass whooped?”

“Hey!”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if this will work but as i'm not very good at describing fight scenes so i tried not to do blow by blow... but, this is how i imagine Sinn and Yoanna's fighting styles to be. With Sinn been more like Amy Johnston's (Black Widow's stunt double). https://youtu.be/2tC2sMcgm9w?t=42s

Shivering against the icy blast of morning air, Nicole pulled her padded winter jacket tighter around herself and lifted the collar to take the sting off her cheeks.  Her booted feet sank into the crisp layer of fresh snow that covered the ground as she followed Eric to the open field across from her house that he had earmarked for Sinn and Yoanna to ‘workout’ on.  That he felt the need to have so much open land to do it on was quite intimidating without him adding ‘they shouldn’t be able to do too much damage here’.  Shouldn’t?

Sinn and Yoanna had moved ahead of them and Nicole couldn’t help but wonder how they weren’t freezing to death with what they were wearing.  Both were wearing what they had been when they had met, Yoanna in expensive looking jeans that were so faded they were almost white and a butter soft white jacket with a line of pale blue roses sewn down the left sleeve.  With her pale golden hair she almost blended into the winter backdrop.  Sinn on the other hand was night to Yoanna’s light with her black hair, jeans and jacket.  The one changing in clothing was Sinn’s though as she had had to borrow a blue t-shirt after hers had somehow ended up getting ‘ripped’ during the night… which had earned Yoanna a pointed glare.

Nicole could sense the change in their body language.  The shift of shoulder and stance that set her senses tingling in warning of a fight as they moved apart and started a loose circling of each other.

“No matter how bad it looks, don’t be tempted to try and step in,” Eric warned the woman at his side.  He kept his eyes on Sinn and Yoanna as they traded feigned blows that he knew would look like full on kicks and punches to anyone not used to what they could really do.  “Most Werewolves and Vampires have the strength to flip trucks with ease… these two… Sinn isn’t Wolf or Vamp but she is very well trained and when they first started sharing power she had a session with the best of our guards.  Fifteen Werewolves.  She was blindfolded and listening to loud music too and she walked right through them without a scratch.  And Yoanna… she’s better.”

Nicole wanted to believe that Eric was stretching the truth.  But then Sinn and Yoanna started ‘sparring’ in earnest and Nicole kept having to remind herself to breathe.  It was brutal and beautiful to watch as they blocked and landed punches and kicks that would have killed most people.

Their fighting styles looked pretty similar but as she got used to their dance, Nicole started to spot the differences.  Both mixed styles of fighting with ease but Sinn was more of a brawler, dealing out heavy punches and kicks, whereas Yoanna’s go to style more fluid, allowing her to bend around Sinn’s blows to land counterstrike’s that came out of directions that seemed ridiculously impossible.

As good as they were though, Nicole could tell that something was wrong even without the telling murmurs from Eric.  Every now and then, amongst all the quickly shaken off hits, there would be a telling blow that sent one of them to the ground or had blood flying.  They never let it keep them down though and kept going.  “Eric?”

“Every five minutes,” he muttered as Sinn flew backwards and landed in a heap of snow after getting caught by a straight kick to the chest.  “Looks like we’ve got company,” he nodded back towards the house as a red jeep pulled up outside of the Officers house and the two sisters climbed out.

“I’d better go let them know this,” she waved a hand to encompass Sinn and Yoanna, “isn’t a pitched battle.”

“That would be good,” Eric agreed.  “Especially as I’m giving them knives to play with in a bit.”

“What?”  Nicole stared at Eric incredulously for a heartbeat, hoping he would smile or say something to say he was joking but his expression was more deadly serious than anything she had ever seen off Dolls.  “Are you sure that’s…” seeing that she wasn’t going to get an answer she liked at his continued stoic expression, Nicole waved her hands and hurried back through the snow with the sounds of Sinn and Yoanna fighting following her as she made her way towards Waverly and Wynonna.

Just the sight of Waverly all bundled up in the thickest coat and most bulky scarf, Nicole felt sure she had ever seen, lifted her heart and almost made her forget what was going on in the field… until she saw Wynonna’s hand hovering close to the gun jutting out of her boot.  “Hey.”

“What the hell’s going on, Haught?  I thought those two were an item?”

“Oh, they’re just sparring.”

“That’s sparring?  Fuck!  No wonder Black Badge was so interested in her after Dolls wrote his paper.”  Wynonna realised almost instantly that she had put her foot straight into her mouth as Nicole stiffened up to her full height and her usually gentle, open face closed down into grim line of actual anger.  “Shit, I’m sorry, Haught.  What B.B.D. tried to do to her was beyond wrong.  Dolls had nothing to do with it though.”

“Yeah, right!”

“Baby, ‘Nonna’s telling the truth.  B.B.D. screwed them both over.”  Wrapping her arms around Nicole’s waist, Waverly ran her hands up and down the stiff length of her spine while she told her what they had found out after Doc had beat the hell out of Dolls.  Gradually she felt Nicole start to unwind a bit and her strong arms came up to hug her back.  Snuggling in closer, Waverly buried her nose into the warmth of her and breathed in the scent of her until she felt lightheaded.

“No way!  He’s got knives?”

“Wait!”  Eyes flying open, Nicole saw that Wynonna was hurrying through the snow with a purposeful stride.  “Coming, Waves?  Wynonna!  Don’t get in their way!”  Nicole warned as they set off after her as she went to confront Eric about the knives he had in his hands.  With Wynonna, Nicole wasn’t sure if the woman was about to confront Eric thinking he was going to hurt the women he was protecting or if she just wanted to admire the blades.  “Wynonna!”

“Morning, ladies!”  Eric glanced back at his watch.  He didn’t want to mistime anything and put them in danger.  “Sinn!  Yoanna!  Two minutes!”

Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly from behind, sheltering her from the wind driven snow blowing across the field as they watched the beautiful… and with one wrong move, deadly, dance between the blonde and brunette.  She wondered if they had even heard Eric’s time warning but as the two minutes counted down they backed away just enough and just in time to pluck the knives he threw at them out of the air without even looking before slipping straight back into their sparring.

When they had been trading punches and kicks they hadn’t let whatever it was that happened every five minutes slow them down.  Not even when blood had been drawn.

As her knife slid across Sinn’s face though, Yoanna felt her heart freeze as blood started to flow from the thin line the knife had left across her loves cheek.  “Stop!”

Dropping her knife into the snow, Yoanna closed the distance between them and cupped Sinn’s face gently.  It was only a small cut but Yoanna flashed back to far greater wounds Sinn had endured.

“What’s… oh!”  Sinn looked down at the blood on her fingertips as she touched her cheek.  Just realising it was there made the cut start to sting in the cold but she held herself still and calm under the fear in Yoanna’s eyes.  “Hey, it’s okay, baby.  Look, it’s not bad.  It’ll heal in no time.”

“I should have been more careful!”

“Yoanna, love… we’re doing this now so we can work out what our limits are.  Frankly I would rather take this now than have it happen in battle when something really is out for blood.  But, hey,” hooking her chin, Sinn lifted her eyes and gave her a soft smile.  “If it bothers you, you could always heal it?”

At Sinn’s wickedly seductive eyebrow waggle, Yoanna finally relaxed and looked at the small knick across her cheek for what it was and not the memory it had evoked.  They could, and did, heal far worse on their own, without help, and without leaving a mark.  The only thing that didn’t seem to follow that rule was wounds made while they made love.  Those always too longer to heal unless they wanted to help out.  That small nick from the blade would be gone in moments.  But…

Placing a hand on Sinn’s shoulder, Yoanna pushed until Sinn took the hint and knelt in the snow with her head tilted up in invitation and anticipation twinkling in her green eyes.

The scent of Sinn’s power laden blood teased the air and made Yoanna’s jaw ache.  It didn’t matter how much that part of her had been fed, Sinn’s blood and the love with which it was given always had that effect on her.  Lowering her head, Yoanna pressed light kisses over Sinn’s face, caressing her jawline and lips, teasing until she felt Sinn’s hands tighten upon her waist and heard a soft whimpered moan from her throat.

Ever so slowly, she ran her tongue across the cut on Sinn’s cheek, lapping up the blood and power as she healed her.


	25. Chapter 25

Sighing in frustration, Nicole tried to make sense of the illegible scrawl on the note stuck amongst the folders tossed onto her desk.  She tried approaching it from all angles, even tried looking at it from the back and considered looking at its reflection in a mirror but it had apparently been written by a monkey.  “Lonnie!”  She held up the note as he popped his head around the corner.  “Translation?”

He took the note off her and Nicole tried not to tap her pen on the desk in frustration as he stared at it blankly for a couple of minutes longer than necessary.  “Lonnie, you wrote it.”

“Oh!  Yeah, I remember now!”

“Well?” she encouraged as he just stood there looking happy about it.  “Lonnie, what does it say?!”

“It came in first thing.  There were some cattle found dead on the Lippencote ranch.  Probably just froze in that storm last night.”

“Probably?  You didn’t follow it up?”

“Cattle go missing here all the time, you know that.  He probably just forgot to get them in on time and thinks he can claim on his insurance.”

“Lonnie, Bill Lippencote can be a stubborn ass about understanding that he’s not supposed to drive without a licence but he’s not the kind of man that would have his cattle out in the kind of weather we’ve been having.”  Nicole sighed in frustration and shook her head in the lack of interest in her fellow Officer’s face.  “It’s okay, I’ll follow it up.”

Dismissing Lonnie from her mind, Nicole jotted down a more legible note for herself to check in with Bill before she was done for the day and went back to quietly stressing out every time she looked at the firmly closed doors to the B.B.D. offices and listened for the sound of the main doors opening.

After Sinn and Yoanna’s ‘sparring’ session had been cut short, they had all returned to her home to warm up and have a coffee before heading into town.  After what they had seen it had been almost difficult to accept that that wasn’t even as fast as Sinn and Yoanna could usually fight.  From what they had felt, and from what Eric knew of them, they figured that they were only running at about half the speed, half the power level, that they usually did.

That that was only half of what they were capable of was frankly scary as hell and probably would have, and should have, made Nicole nervous.  She still couldn’t shake that feeling that she needed to trust them though.

Nicole could tell that what bothered them all was the sudden dips that happened just about every five minutes.  Those moments that staggered them and left them vulnerable.  If they ended up getting into any fights while it was happening it wasn’t like they could just ask their opponent to hold up while they recovered.

“Yoanna, if this is happening to us…”

“We’ll figure it out, my love.”

They had stood there, foreheads touching, ignoring everything and everyone as they seemed to just breathe in each other’s strength before they kissed.

Nicole thought at first that she must have gone a little snow blind or something as she turned away to give them a little privacy… or as much as anyone could get with Wynonna staring that them.  But then she saw the soft, indulgent smile that Eric was giving them and realised that the twinkling glow was coming off them again.

Waverly looked like she wanted nothing more than to run away from them and Nicole had feared for her but then she seemed to shake it off and looked at Sinn and Yoanna in fascination and wonder.  Nicole tried to catch Waverly’s eye over the table but she had glanced her way and had, if only for a second, looked at her in fear before she had moved around and into her arms acting like her Waverly again.

Nicole had tried to get Waverly alone so she could tell her just how much their night together had meant.  But the house was too full of people that didn’t know what they could do for any kind of a conversation about that.  Nicole felt, knew, that everyone there could be trusted but once something like that started to spread there was always the chance that a conversation would be heard by the wrong people and… well… they lived in a town that was basically Supernatural Central, there were no end of bad guys.

And then there was Black Badge.

The secret agency that had tried to have a young woman raped, destroyed towns and had laboratories full of ‘specimens.  Right then they were probably higher than Revenants on Nicole’s list of people she wanted Waverly kept away from.  Yeah, they trusted Dolls but as for the rest… they had made, Waverly, Wynonna, Doc and the new guy, Jeremy, sign a blood contract at gunpoint.  Those were not people Nicole wanted knowing that Waverly had abilities.

Putting her pen back down, Nicole glanced at her watch and then at the clock hanging on the wall… just to be sure.  “Calm down,” she muttered at herself as she realised that only a couple of hours had gone by since they had driven into town.  The day was early still and they had promised that they would be in later to talk to the sheriff once they were dressed a bit more respectfully and didn’t look like they were half drowned from been in the snow.  Given Sinn’s feelings about Black Badge and how she had been traumatised just at the thought of stepping into the same building… yeah, Nicole was anxious, and also quite scared that they would just keep on riding.

Looking down as her desk, Nicole frowned a little as she mulled that over.  Sinn and Yoanna weren’t under suspicion of anything, they were free to leave any time they wanted and yet… the thought of them doing so had Nicole wondering if it would be terribly illegal to go find them and cuff herself to them to make sure they didn’t?

It would be super illegal but still Nicole was seriously considering it.

Shaking her head at herself, Nicole glanced back at the clock hanging on the wall and froze in confusion as she thought she saw a shadow flitting across the face of it as the scent of cigars and rum teased across her senses like a memory.  Hand dropping to her gun, Nicole glanced all around her but apart from Lonnie at the other end of the room there was no one around.  Even Nedley’s office was in darkness as he had turned off the lights and muttered that he was going out for coffee.

Ever since Shorty’s had been closed and happy hour lost to him, the sheriff had been looking for a new place to hang his hat to keep an eye on everything in the town.  Unfortunately him been away from the station at a time he wasn’t usually was making Nicole even more antsy that he wouldn’t be there when Sinn and Yoanna turned up.

Trying to take her mind off of everything, Nicole ran back through her notes and looked up details about the forest and any crimes or reports from the area that had drawn Sinn’s attention.  Just thinking about the forest and how it made her feel, had a shiver running up her spine.

“So, you just breeze on in here and demand my best Officer?”

“Sheriff, you have my badge, I have the authority to do that.  But I’m not.  I’m just asking for your help.”

Nicole watched as Sheriff Nedley turned and studied Sinn intently like he was trying to get a read on her.  Nedley liked to give off the air of a small town Sheriff but there was a very perceptive man beneath it.  If Sinn had come at him in belligerent, demanding mode, he would have probably dug his heels in as it wasn’t all that long ago that Dolls had done the same and the Sheriff had been forced to give up office space and cases to B.B.D.  Sinn though was playing it nice and been the woman Nicole had seen when she dropped the sarcastic defences.

“And if I don’t like the thought of helping?”

“That would be up to you.  Like I said, I’ve got the authority to do what I want but I would rather have your help on this.  I like to get things done and move on.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather work with B.B.D., they’ve got all the resources.”

The hair on the back of Nicole’s neck stood up and Nedley took a step back, his eyes going as big as saucers as an honest to god growl rumbled from Sinn’s throat.

“I have had dealings with them before… never again!” Sinn hissed.

“In that case, Jackson.  I like you.  You can have Officer Haught help you out if she agrees?  Please, try not to get her hurt… I believe you’ve already met up with her girlfriend and I would hate to have to deal with her sister if Waverly gets thrown in jail.”  Handing her badge back, Nedley ignored the barely concealed excitement on Nicole’s face and took himself off to his office and closed the door.  Damn, but he was missing happy hour at Shorty’s more every day!

Swinging a chair around, Sinn sat down facing Nicole and slipped off the tinted glasses she had been hiding behind.  She’d put her back to the Black Badge offices but Nicole could see the tension through her shoulders.  “Hey, you okay?”

“I will be,” Sinn tried to smile reassuringly.  “I know Wynonna said that Dolls got screwed over too and had nothing to do with what they tried to do to me but… it’s still Black Badge.  That’s more difficult for me to get past.”

“Which is totally understandable.  Sinn, could I ask you something?”

“I believe you just did.”  Sinn grinned at Nicole’s eye roll.  “Go on, ask away.  If I can answer, I will,” she assured her.

“Okay.  I’ve seen your paperwork… Sinn Jackson… but I heard Yoanna use a different name?”

“Catherine Nikolova?”

“Yeah.”  There was a pause and Nicole wondered if Sinn was going to refuse to answer.

“Catherine is my real first name.  Sinn Jackson is an alias I used just to piss someone off but I’ve used it for so long I’m more likely to respond to Sinn… and it’s got such a deliciously bad reputation attached to it I would hate to have to build up again.  Yoanna kind of likes using Catherine when I’m pushing her,” she grinned.  “Nikolova, well that’s not really my surname, it’s my Great-Great Grandmothers, Nina’s.  I would much rather have hers cause I’ll be damned if I’ll take back the one I had before,” taking a breath, Sinn tried to calm herself again.

“Then… all that in the book?”

“It’s true… though we had to put a foot down and get Rosita to redact the hell out of some of it.  God, she was pissed that she couldn’t get that printed as non-fiction,” Sinn chuckled.

“It was a little, erm…”

“Flowery?”

“Yeah,” Nicole chuckled.  “So, where’s Yoanna anyway?”

“Oh, probably still clothes shopping.  She kicked me out cause I apparently got too grouchy about everything… damn it though I would much rather have a t-shirt I can tuck in if I want than something that covers less than my boobs.  Eric dodged out and went to hire a vehicle.  He gets nervous when we’re on the bike too much for some reason.”

“After seeing the speed you were going, I’m not surprised.”

“I have _excellent_ reflexes… usually,” she amended as Nicole’s eyes skimmed across her cheek where the cut had been.  “None of what we can do is freaking you out is it, Nic?  We get so used to just doing it and been around people that understand who and what we are, but I remember how freaked out I was the first time I saw a Vampire taking blood.”

It was asked calmly but Nicole could see the little shift in Sinn’s eyes and the slightest puckering at the bridge of her nose.  “Correct me if I’m wrong but that wasn’t Yoanna feeding was it?”

“Well no… but seeing someone lapping up blood…”

“It was… beautiful… natural.  Does it make sense that I feel like it should have freaked me out but it didn’t?  All I saw was the love between you, and that’s never a bad thing.  It turned what someone might see as, lapping up blood as you put it, into more of a kiss.”

“I’m glad we didn’t freak you out,” Sinn smiled gratefully.  They didn’t want Nicole to feel uncomfortable around them but at the same time they needed the comfort of been able to be themselves when everything else felt like it was coming apart.  “So, what have you been working on?”

“It's nothing really, I was just going through old reports and anything I could find on that forest.”  Nicole tried to brush it aside as the nothing she felt sure Dolls or Wynonna would have taken it as, but Sinn spun her chair around and leaned in closer to study what she had found and started throwing question at her as they sorted through it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All that just to get Nedley on side with his best Officer getting snatched away and have Nicole doing a bit of research (((rolling eyes at myself))).


	26. Chapter 26

Sitting back in her chair, Nicole tilted her head on one side then the other, cracking away the tension in her neck from been hunched over papers and the computer for so many hours.  Tapping at her computer mouse, she flicked back and forth through the map on her screen, advancing the timeline of reports around the forest.

It was like looking at one of those magic eye pictures and starting to see all the jumble of lines and colours coming together to form a picture… only it was taking a hell of a lot of eye crossing.

There was something there though, building up through the years.  Starting small, then fading away only for years later more to come in in the same areas like a building heartbeat as when they started up again the areas affected grew wider and wider.

Nicole knew that if they hadn’t been looking for a pattern they wouldn’t have seen anything as the crimes reported were so varied that they didn’t really warrant a closer look.  In fact… the only crimes that were really consistent over the years were the mutilated and missing cattle.  Taking the note on Bill Lippencote from her drawer, Nicole tapped a finger along the edge in thought.

“Nicole gets as engrossed as you, my love.”

“Hmm, actually I was thinking more like, Ella.”  Leaning her head back, Sinn smiled up at Yoanna and savoured the feel of her fingers rubbing the tension from her shoulders.  As her finger traced over where the blade had marked her, Sinn captured her hand and pressed a quick kiss to the palm.  “Hey, that was only a scratch.”

“That doesn’t stop me from worrying, Sinn.  I’ve seen you heal worse on your own before the first drop of blood can spill from that beautiful skin.”

“Who’s Ella?”

Slipping her hand inside Sinn’s jacket, Yoanna fished Sinn’s phone from inside and unlocked it.  Flipping through the gallery, she found one and zoomed as she gestured at Waverly to come closer.  “This is Ella, like my Sinn she was a Hunter.  Until she fell in love with Marcus,” she moved the focus of the photo to include the big redhead at her side.  “He’s a…”

“Grade A Jerk.”

“Vampire,” she admonished Sinn with a pinch as she grinned up at her.  “He along with Ella are actually the ones in charge of all the Vampires in Bitten.  He and Sinn had something of a rocky start to their friendship.”

“He tried to kill me,” Sinn pointed out with a mock pout.

“After you pointed guns at him and kicked him in the nuts several times.”

“Actually,” Sinn whispered to Waverly, “it was the other way around… I only kicked him once.”

“Behave.  This is their daughter, Aimee.”

Leaning closer, Waverly couldn’t help but smile as she gazed at the utterly adorable baby cradled in the Vampires huge arms like she was the most precious thing in the world.  “I thought- well I thought it wasn’t possible for Vampires to have babies?”

“Aimee is the first one to be born for many years.”

“And when she says many, she really means thousands.”

Nicole smiled and continued to study the map on her computer.  She was glad that Waverly had decided to leave the B.B.D. offices to join them.  She had just sat quietly at first and then moved closer and closer until she had been just as involved as the rest of them in fitting the pieces of the puzzle together.  Nicole wasn’t sure what was troubling Waverly but whenever she was around Sinn and Yoanna she seemed to go through a moment where she wanted to run and then she… well, she became her Waverly again.

A thought popped into Nicole’s head and niggled at her as she remembered how the Revenant had acted when he had stumbled across them.  Maybe, she thought, Waverly was nervous about been around a Vampire?

“So, what do you think, Agent Haught?”

“I think I like the sound of that,” Nicole admitted with a grin.  Even if it was only temporary it felt good to be involved in preventing something bigger.  To be trusted and in on things instead of been kept out of the loop.  “And I think I want to go have a word with Bill Lippencote.”  She quickly filled them in on the report that had come in and pointed out the location of his ranch on the map.

“Too close to be coincidence for my liking?  Is it okay if we tag along, Nicole?”

“Yeah… well, I kind of thought you would be taking the lead anyway.”

“You know the people, Nicole.  If I roll up on my bike and start asking questions they’ll clam up.  Whereas you, they know you and your badge means something to them.  And speaking of my bike… don’t think I didn’t feel you take my keys earlier, Yoanna.”

“You won’t need them.  We will all be travelling together as much as possible now and the weather is too bad for your bike now.”  Yoanna matched Sinn’s stance, planting her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes.

Her Sinn was a complicated creature, all wild and sharp edges from having no control of her life for over twenty years.  But it was tempered by a good heart that wanted to do right, that had her taking on the mantel of more and more responsibilities in protecting their ever expanding family as they had come her way.  Her precious bike, apart from the time Ella had had it locked away and stripped of its wheels for fear that Sinn would ride away, was one of the freedoms that Yoanna liked to make sure Sinn had available.  She used it rarely and hardly ever without her riding with her, but it was there.

Those narrowed green eyes and her stance would have had most people they were locked upon running in fear but, even when they had been getting to know each other, Yoanna had always been able to see the woman beneath it all and, as expected, Sinn’s lips quirked, her eyes softening as she took in her pout mirrored back at her.

“Well,” Sinn chuckled, “I guess it’ll be warmer…” sliding her hands around Yoanna’s waist, she teased a power laden breath across her lips, “especially if we get to make out in the back seat.”

“As long as you don’t go too far and blow out the windows or the electronics.”

“You are such a spoilsport, Eric,” Sinn rolled her eyes at him.  “Wait, electronics?”

“Yeah, just got back from checking out the plane and as well as it needing new wheels and probably new engines… your little light show knocked out most of the electronic systems.”

“Oops?”

“Yep, you could say that.  Luckily I was finally able to get a call out and everything is on order to get it fixed.  And… I managed to get through to the mansion before it went down again.  May I?” he gestured towards the Officers computer and handed her a handed her the micro SD card out of his phone.

“How is everyone?”

“Communications aren’t as bad on their end but they’re having even more trouble with phones and everything than usual.  Ella managed to get through to Sinn’s satellite guy when they realised that everything they were getting was time based too and… well,” pointing out a file to Nicole, he watched as a video popped open.  “This is footage from over Purgatory earlier… and your friend swears there’s nothing wrong with the satellite, he checked five times apparently.

Nicole wanted to know how they had someone with access to satellites but she was kind of worried as to what the answer would be.  As soon as the video started playing though she was too startled by what she saw to care.  The image zoomed in from high above, each step taking a moment to refocus and become clear.  But there was Purgatory and the rest of the Ghost River Triangle, surrounded by an almost hurricane shaped swirl of clouds that looked like it was ready to engulf the area.  What was really startling though was that every… yep, going by the timestamp, every five minutes, the whole of Purgatory just blinked out of existence.

“What the fuck!  Is that happening in Bitten too?”

“The satellite can’t see through the clouds.  Officer, could you open the image files?  First one is a high altitude shot… Purgatory and Bitten… well I think we can see where they are by the huge ass storms over them.  This was a view from the library,” he’d already seen it and thought he had had time to come to terms with the sight of the snow nearly up to the first floor windows.  His wife and babies were in there though, along with his friends and family.

“Eric… the tunnels?”

“They tried, Sinn.  It waited until they were all clear and then it shut down.”

“All of it?”

“Yeah, everyone is living in the mansion itself now.”

“Tunnels?”

“We call it a tunnel but it’s more than that.  It’s partly sentient… annoyingly so sometimes.  They used to belong to the Fae but this one is ours.”

“Fae tunnels?” Waverly paced around, searching through everything she had read up on them.  “Wait, the same ones the Fae live in that could move anywhere?”

“Not exactly anywhere,” Sinn admitted.  “Maybe once, when their power was at a peak but now it has to be the right kind of stone formation it works through.  Couldn’t even tell with all the snow on the ground if there was any here but with the power levels been skewed to the demon side and ours been nature I’d betting not.”

“And if it’s shut down we couldn’t just open one up and head home anyway.”

“You would do that?  Just leave?”

No, Nicole, not while there’s something going on here.  I’ve been known to ride off into the sunset on occasion,” Sinn shot a glare at Eric for his snort.  “But that’s usually when the jobs done.  It would have been nice to know it was still there for everyone at home though with how that snow is building up.  Eric, if you get back through to Mel or anyone, tell them to try throwing up an extra barrier if they can.  If they haven’t tried it already, maybe it will give them some respite from the snow.  And if anyone starts going on about REDRUM… stay away.”

Eric frowned in confusion for a second and paused over the text message he was writing.  “Really?  The Shining?”

“It was the last movie I watched with snow in it!”  Sinn called after him as Eric stalked away shaking his head.  “What?  I couldn’t think of anything out of Day After Tomorrow.”

“And everyone says my sense of humour is strange,” Wynonna snorted.  “So, when do we go pay old man Lippencote a visit?”  Before they could question how she knew, Wynonna slipped a hand into the front pocket of Waverly’s coat and removed the tiny microphone she had put in it.

“Wynonna!!!!”  Totally aghast that her sister used her like that… and that she hadn’t realised.  Waverly slapped her shoulder.

“Well, Wynonna, that would all depend on if your boss will let you and if you’re willing to accept the fact that Black Badge isn’t in charge?”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugg, it is not easy writing for SInn and Yoanna when they have already got such a complex separate story on the go. Trying to find the balance between explaining what they are but not rehashing everything... as well as thinking what might have happened past the chapters i've already plotted out. Yep, not easy.

Nicole wrapped her arms tighter around Waverly’s body.  Even though the extra thick coats they were body bundled up in against the frigid air, she could feel Waverly’s heart beating against her and the warmth of her breath.

If they were humans on the ground… or even something humanoid shaped, Waverly would have probably been one of the first ones trying to get a look and see what had happened.  But in typically tender-hearted Waverly fashion, she was finding the crime scene difficult to take because it was defenceless animals.

Not that Nicole was finding it any easier.  Even when watching movies, knowing that the animals were perfectly fine in real life, both of them tended to look away when an animal was in danger or killed or didn’t flinch when a human was.  Unless they were watching Titanic and then all bets were off as Waverly screamed at Rose to ‘move the hell over!’

As she comforted Waverly, Nicole took a guarded breath so as not to inhale any smells and switched her brain over to the analytical cop mode as she watched the others walking between the bodies… what was left of them.

Even Wynonna was unusually quip free as she peered at them.  If Waverly hadn’t been there, Nicole wasn’t too sure Wynonna would have been so restrained though.  Sinn and Yoanna carried themselves with an air that said they had seen far worse… which Nicole could understand with Yoanna as she was thousands of years old, but Sinn, she was around the same age as herself and the hardness around her eyes and mouth screamed that she was a woman that had seen too much.

Nicole focused her eyes reluctantly on the bodies.  According to Bill there had been at least a dozen cattle in the field but it was hard to tell if there were than many dead as the remains were scattered far and wide.  Lonnie was an ass if he had taken any part of Bill’s original call to be that they had simply frozen to death.

“What do you think?  Someone hacked them up?”

Standing up, brushing the snow off her knees, Sinn studied the ground between the cattle and the edge of the forest that seemed to loom, dark and menacing just over a mile away.  “’fraid not,” turning, she pointed to a piece of body and gestured to the edges of the wounds.  “That’s a bite mark.”

“Wolves?”

“Not unless you’ve got wolves around here that stand between twenty and thirty foot at the shoulders.  That’s a single bite mark.”  Sinn looked around the field and tried not to imagine what the cattle must have gone through in their last moment… trapped with nowhere to run as they were picked off.  “Swear to god I’m going vegan for good after this,” she muttered.

Sensing and catching motion out of the corner of her eye by a rickety old lean-to, Sinn reached for her weapon and placed herself forwards of Yoanna and the others.  A scent caught her, familiar but different, it drew a soft growl from her that had the figure lifting their head to scent back.  “Wolf… but not wolf?”

“Hey!  Charlie!”  Nicole gently touched Sinn on the shoulder and was actually surprised given what was around them and Sinn’s reputation when she trusted her at her word and relaxed her stance.  “It’s okay, I know the kid.  Let me go talk to him and see what he wants.”

Nicole quickly trudged through the snow to where Charlie was trying to blend in with the old wood of the lean-to shelter.  She didn’t keep much from Waverly and the others but, while making the acquaintances of the citizens of Purgatory she had unknowingly met some of the more Supernatural ones.  Once she had become more aware of what was going on around town, she hadn’t felt the need to break ties with all of them.  Charlie was a Skin Walker, and he and his family, were amongst some that she kept the closest with.

“Whatcha doin’ out here, Charlie?”

“I- Bill, mister Lippencote, he said we might be able to have some of the remains once they had been looked at.  What happened Officer Haught?”

“We’re still working on that, Charlie.  Not really sure you should be taking any of the meat though.  We don’t know what killed them, it could be contaminated.”

“It’s been hard for us this winter, Officer.  Hunting is poor and Ma lost her job.”

Nicole saw the way his grey eyes shifted nervously towards the forest almost as much as they did Sinn and Yoanna.  “Do you know something about what’s going on in the forest?”

“Just know it’s bad in there.  More than usual.  All the animals have left and… it just feels bad in there.  Who are they?”

“My friends.  They’re from out of town.”

“I smell… Alpha.  Could I meet them?”

The question coming from the usually painfully shy teen and the intensity of his grey eyes as he looked at her imploringly made Nicole lean back in thought.  “Sure, come on…” he froze on the spot, obviously reluctant to leave the protection of the shelter.  “Or would you rather they come here?”  He nodded eagerly.  “Sinn!  Yoanna!  Could you come here a minute!?”  The two women walked towards them, side by side but Nicole couldn’t help but notice that Sinn kept what was obviously her dominant hand free… though her eyes were on the forest and not Charlie.  “This is, Charlie.  He’s…”

“A Skin Walker?”  Eyes narrowed, Sinn sniffed the air between them.  “Wolf?”

“Sinn!  Manners!  You will have to excuse, my love, Charlie, sometimes she forgets herself.  My name is, Yoanna.”

Quickly wiping his hand across his pants, Charlie shook the hand the blonde held out.  It was so small and delicate but he could feel the strength in her grip.  The heady scent of Alpha surrounded him, so close and strong that he wasn’t sure which of the women was the strongest but the part of his nature that was connected to the Wolf he walked in, even though magical in nature, wanted to bow down to them in surrender.

“He wanted to meet you because you’re… Alpha?”

“Picked… not born or turned.  Sinn has the closest connection to the main Alpha in Bitten and she decided she wanted Sinn to lead.”

“All of us,” Sinn pursed her lips.  Been the leader of the local Werewolves was something that still didn’t sit well on her.  She wasn’t a Wolf and didn’t’ care much for some of the more brutal aspects of pack life that could lead to conflicts when trouble wasn’t handled with force.

“They all decided they wanted you to lead the Werewolves, Sinn… just so happens that you’re mine so they got a package deal.”  Sliding a hand up Sinn’s back, Yoanna gave her hair a discrete pull just with enough pressure to lift her chin a fraction and have her eyes growing lidded.  They weren’t Wolves but when the dominant / Alpha side came out in Sinn, sometimes it needed a little reminder to behave.

“Cheat,” Sinn whispered softly.

“Charlie was just telling me that all the animals in the forest have left.”

“Hmm, left or eaten,” Sinn looked back at the remains of the slaughtered cattle.  “Charlie, have you been able to smell blood in there to say which it might be?”

Charlie risked a glance towards the trees and edged away with a whimper, instinctively moving towards the protection of the Alphas.  “I haven’t been close for weeks,” he reluctantly admitted.  He hated to appear weak before them but he didn’t want a lie to hang between them.  “There was extra blood in the air though.  But not enough to account for the loss of everything there should have been.”

“Charlie, do you think any of your elders would be willing to tell us anything we might need to know of the forest?”

“I’m not sure, Officer Haught.  They don’t like to talk about it but I could ask… they like you.  You treat us fairly and they might be willing to speak.”

Nicole pressed some folded bills into his hand and watched as Charlie left them, his thin body vanishing into the bleak landscape.  She glanced up and chewed her lip at the sight of the heavy clouds pressing ominously closer in an ever tightening circle.

“What are you thinking, my love?”

Catching the glint of green as Sinn removed her glasses, Nicole followed her steady, assessing, gaze towards the forest.  Her breath was caught in a wave of warmth she had come to associate with their power.  It was intoxicating, making her feel light as it wrapped around and through her.  Blue and green turned to her, sky meeting forest, and Nicole felt like they were looking at her deeper than with their eyes.  She wasn’t sure what they saw but before she could question their intrigues looks, they turned their attention once more to the forest and Nicole felt bereft as the power eased.

“I’m thinking that something is suggesting very strongly that we should just stay the hell away from that forest.”  Folding up her glasses, Sinn tucked them into her jacket pocket as she turned away from the forest.  She stopped, nearly bumping into Wynonna.

“So,” Wynonna grinned at the slightest hint of startlement on the dark haired Hunters face at been snuck up on.  “Are we going in now or later?”

“First thing,” Sinn grinned back.

“I like this one, she’s my kind of crazy!  You do make some interesting friends, Haughtstuff!”

“Tell me about it,” Nicole gave Wynonna a pointed look that was blatantly ignored or lost to the eldest Earp as she threw her arm around Sinn’s shoulder and dragged her away.  “I’m not sure if I should apologize or attempt a rescue before Wynonna talks her into taking shots with her,” Nicole muttered into the softness of Waverly’s hair as she curved into her body again.  “Are we really going in there tomorrow?”

Dragging her eyes away from the frankly adorable sight of Wynonna and Sinn together, Yoanna studied the ominous presence of the forest.  She could feel the weight of it telling her to run, to go no closer, just as she knew Sinn had.  “Most definitely,” she grinned in anticipation.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wasn't supposed to happen as i wanted to keep things centered on Nicole more but i'm having a rough time lately and Sinn and Yoanna took over a little.

Even though she didn’t need too, her senses were too sensitive to get something like that past her… at least usually… Sinn took a tentative sniff at her glass to make sure that Wynonna hadn’t tried to sneak her anything harder than a light beer.

Sinn wanted to have all her waning senses intact for their trip into the forest but Wynonna didn’t seem to think that was a good idea and seemed to be trying to drown herself in the nearest bottle of whiskey and tequila.

There was a darkness and desperation about the oldest Earp sister that left Sinn intrigued about what had led her to where she was.

When they had made it back into town Wynonna had spotted a light on at the local bar, Shorty’s and had rushed over to see what was happening.  Given how she was knocking back the shots of booze lined up on the bar, Sinn wasn’t surprised any more that she had managed to notice the dim glow of light through the darkened window.

At the time though her squeal of delight as she had flung open the door with her hand on her gun just in case had left Sinn unsure as to if she should draw her gun or just leave Wynonna and the bar to work out their relationship.

Sinn had been leaning towards the leaving option and was walking by to speak to Eric, who had stayed in Purgatory to go through what they had put together, but Wynonna had grabbed her and yanked her into the bar where Doc was busy wiping down the bar after just been offered the chance to buy it.  Apparently unable to resist the chance to be near Wynonna, he had offered them free drinks.

Fingers trailed down Sinn’s spine, power digging deeper than the short nails, making her spine arch in pleasure.  Her breath hissed out as fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her head back for a heated kiss that poured power into her body and left her reeling in need.

“Dance with me?”

Sinn wasn’t even sure if there was music playing outside of the pounding of her heart against her ribs and the thrumming of blood through her veins as she looked into the playful heat in Yoanna’s blue eyes as she drew her off the barstool and stepped into her arms as they joined Nicole and Waverly who were already swaying together.

Sinn had never been one for dancing, she had never had time for anything so frivolous even though Yoanna was always pointing out that she liked to work out to the beat of music and if she just took out the knocking people on their asses part, she had excellent rhythm.  When it came to Yoanna though, despite her desire to just not do the dancing thing, she found it impossible to resist her and once their bodies started moving everything else faded away.  They swayed together, bodies brushing as she let Yoanna guide her with the rhythm of her movements.

“What do you think of, Nicole?”

Tilting her head, Sinn followed the direction of Yoanna’s gaze.  “I think I can’t believe you’re asking me about another woman while we’re dancing,” she chuckled.

“Well I figured you would like it even less if I asked you tonight while I’m fucking you.”  The stutter in Sinn’s usually silky smooth movements and the clench of her fingers against her hips as desire flared in her eyes was worth the teasing.  “You blocked out everything but the ‘fucking you’ then didn’t you?”

“You know me too well,” Sinn admitted with a smirk.  “Oh!  Right, Nicole… well, her aura’s changed, I take it you mean that?”

“Mhmm.”

“I know we put out a hefty shot of power at the airport but… we’ve never affected anyone more on the normal human side of the scale so quickly.  Even Rosita took months to start to change and she was amongst it daily.  Nicole… she’s different.”  Glancing at the woman in question, Sinn studied her aura again, taking in the darkening of it the almost gold colour she associated with herself and Ella’s.  Which would make her either the first normal human to gain a huge chunk of power or meant she was actually related to the first companions like herself.

Looking into Yoanna’s eyes, Sinn could see that her love had already reached the same conclusion.  “Really, you think one escaped your attention for so long?”

“Sinn, without following direct bloodlines the only way I found any of you was when you became a threat,” raising up she gave Sinn a quick kiss of apology for the truth.  She hated to be reminded of all she had done, all the lives she had been forced to take.  That they were all lawful hunts didn’t lesson the pain and regret Yoanna knew Sinn felt.  “She is special, they all are… some of them are a little easier to work out than others.”  Right then though, Yoanna decided she wanted to see Sinn’s eyes light up for her again.

Using her knowledge of her loves body, she moved against her, sliding her nails across the pulse in her throat with the lightest of scratches as she pressed her thigh between Sinn’s in a blatant move.

“Any chance we can think about all that later… much later,” Sinn moaned.

“Why, something wrong, my Sinn,” Yoanna purred knowingly as she turned around, making sure to press her ass into the curve of Sinn’s body.

“Oh, you are going to pay for that move later,” Sinn moaned as she nipped at the flesh over Yoanna’s throat.

“Counting on it,” Yoanna purred throatily.


	29. Chapter 29

If the forest had felt bad from over a mile away, Nicole decided it was nothing compared to how it was to step foot into the shadows created by the canopy of trees.  All sound feel away until there was just the distant creak and groan as branches stirred and popped as though stood upon by a giant.

It was oppressive and… well, frankly, bloody freezing despite the sanctuary from the elements afforded by the covering of the trees.  Or the sanctuary that should have been there anyway.  Pulling her scarf up higher, Nicole covered her mouth and nose more securely against the freezing air that felt like it was going to turn her lungs to ice with every breath she took.

Her boots sinking into the snow between the trees sounded loud to her own ears but she tried to focus past the sounds of herself and her companions as they moved forwards.  Focus past each ragged breath, the beating of her heart, the scrunch of snow settling.

A crack from above drew her eyes and Nicole had her mouth open to warn Sinn but as though hearing her panic if not the sound, Sinn looked her way, green eyes shining brightly against the winter backdrop, and stepped back in time for a huge icicle as tall as Sinn was to shatter right where her next step would have placed her.

Nicole wanted to leave right there and then to keep everyone safe like she had sworn an oath to do… but Sinn gave her a quiet nod of gratitude and tightened her grip on her weapon as she started forwards again with barely a break in her stride.

Looking up, Nicole shivered from more than the cold seeping through her winter gear as she saw all the equally huge and menacing icicles hanging over their heads.  Glancing either side of her she saw that Waverly and Wynonna had followed her gaze and seen the same.  Thankfully, in a show of restraint for Wynonna and an indication that she had gone into that more serious state the other woman seemed to go into when only the gravest of dangers lurked around them… she held her tongue just as she had been since they had taken that first step into the forest.

Which, given Wynonna’s ability to sarcastically quip through just about anything probably wasn’t a good sign.  She’d even tried to get Waverly to stay behind, which wasn’t unusual for the protective big sister.  Waverly had simply pumped a round into one of the glistening black pump action shotguns that had arrived with Yoanna and Eric on the plane and let the loud sound speak for her.

Behind them, hanging back a little because Sinn still wasn’t comfortable, were Eric, Doc and Dolls.  Nicole had been surprised that Sinn had agreed that Dolls could join them but he had been sitting outside of her place waiting for them and Yoanna had somehow persuaded her to hear him out.  Nicole was pretty convinced that the only thing that had convinced Sinn to agree to anything was that he had admitted that he had been the one that had sent them the information that had proved Black Badge’s involvement in what had happened in England.

The moment they had pulled up within sight of the forest, Dolls had admitted his dislike for places like that.  By the time he had checked his weapons for the third time though he had wrapped himself up tight in layers of control.

Nicole slowed as Sinn and Yoanna did.  She could feel the warmth of their power again, flowing between them and pressing against her like a guiding hand.  Nicole moved closer to them, trusting that they would give a signal if they wanted them to stay away.  “What’s wrong?” she whispered softly.  As she spoke though she could see what they had.  “Oh?”

There was a clearing ahead of them.  Not unusual for a forest.  Only many of the trees had been snapped and bent down like someone had bent back a pencil thin branch and not trees hundreds of years old.

“Trap?”

“Could be…”  Reaching out, Sinn felt the ragged wounds left in the trunk of one of the felled trees nearest to them.  “The wood isn’t…”  Sinn looked up as a shadow hurtling towards them caught her eyes.  “Fuck… MOVE!!!”

Nicole dove forwards with Sinn and Yoanna as a boulder sailed over their heads and smashed into the trees behind them.  Everything became a blur as they moved for cover as best as they could while keeping an eye out for more boulders as they rained down, kicking up plums of snow and dirt, toppling trees into their path.  Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole saw Waverly and Wynonna been forced back the way they had come, deeper into the forest with it’s lethal icicles while she, Sinn and Yoanna were pressed into the most exposed part of the clearing.

A boulder shattered between them, separating them further.

As suddenly as it had begun, the hail of boulders stopped.  But before they could enjoy the peace, Nicole felt something rumbling beneath her feet.  She looked to Sinn who was furiously brushing at the snow beneath them.

Sinn’s heart froze as she saw that they were on a huge slab of ice.  Worse though was the twin points of blue fire rushing up from beneath it straight for them.  “Nicole… Run!”

Even as she started doing as Sinn as ordered, Nicole knew it was too late by the look in Sinn’s eyes.  The ground bucked up under them, ice rising up in an explosion of sound and ragged shards that ripped at her clothing.  Nicole had a moment that seemed to last forever… one perfect moment where her eyes met Waverly’s and then the ground swallowed them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate it when i nearly write myself into a corner with a 'action' scene.  
> Okay, you know it's a trap girls now go stand in that nice clearing for me so i can write you into more peril -_-


	30. Chapter 30

Waverly sank to her knees in the snow, Wynonna’s arms holding her tight as she thrashed about and screamed for her love.  She kept seeing over and over, that moment as their eyes had locked across the roiling ground and she had seen the knowledge in Nicole’s eyes that she wasn’t going to make it.

Wynonna watched as Eric and the others raced past them towards the steaming chasm left where the centre of the clearing had been.  Huge sheets of ice lay all around, standing up like jagged teeth and speared through trees.  She saw Dolls reach out and grab the back of Eric’s jacket and belt as he threw himself to the ground and reached over the edge, the strength of his move nearly threw them body over but Doc managed to turn the tide on their momentum.

They hauled him back from the edge and Wynonna was shocked and relieved to see that Eric’s hand was wrapped around Yoanna’s wrist.  He pulled her back from the edge and had to pin her as she screamed for Sinn and tried to struggle back to the hole.

“My Queen, please!”  He flinched and held on tighter, trying frantically to pin her arms.  If she had been at full strength there would have been no way he would have been able to contain her but even stripped of much of it she was stronger than he was and he knew he had little time to get through to her before she got free or killed him trying.  “Yoanna!  Think!  Focus, my Queen, can you feel her?  We will find them but leaping in blindly will do no good.”

He could feel the pain settling around his heart at her distress.  He and Sinn had had a rocky start with their friendship… most people did that came into contact with the ex-hunter.  But now he knew her, and after all she had done for them, he considered her family.  Hell, if not for her he wouldn’t be the proud father of twins.  “Yoanna?”  She had gone still and quiet within his arms, her body sagging as she focussed.

“I- I’ve got her, she’s injured, I can feel her pain, but I can feel her… both of them,” looking back over her shoulder, Yoanna got Wynonna’s grateful nod and knew that she had heard even if Waverly was too locked in pain and grief to have.

“Can you tell where, my Queen?”

“No.  I can’t see the way as clearly as I normally could to tell if it’s clear.  You can let me go now Eric.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to throw myself in.”  Though, it was tempting to do so if it meant getting to Sinn and Nicole as quickly as she could.

“What in the hell is that?”  Pulling his weapon clear of its holster, Dolls moved around the edge of the ragged pit, Doc at his side.

Doc studied the creature, or whatever it was, as it writhed around in the snow.  There were no discernable limbs or even features.  In fact, it is wasn’t for the twin points of blue looking very eye like and that it was moving, it would have just looked like a giant pile of snow and ice.

Doc jumped a little as Waverly moved past him with a purposeful and almost serpentine graceful movement to her walk to get a closer look.  She crouched down and Doc feared she was far too close for her own good.  The creature made a sound that was a cross between a hiss and the first rumbling of an avalanche as it seemed to try and move away from Waverly.

“Waverly!  Get the hell out of the way!”  Raising Peacemaker, Wynonna stepped forwards to get a clear shot.  The barrel of her gun started to glow, the symbols along the length of it coming to the fore.  But before she could pull the trigger, the creature collapsed to the snow, the blue lights going out as it lost form.  “Did it die?  What in the hell was that?”

“That, was a Jötnar,” Waverly purred in a voice that sounded alien to her own ears.  She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as she turned back to face her sister and the others.

“What’s a Jötnar, sis?”

“A Jötnar?  I have no idea, think I must have read about them somewhere.”  Frowning, Waverly wondered if that was really true?

She knew she had a tendency to get lost in books and absorb snippets of everything but, Jötnar?  That was a name she couldn’t remember ever hearing or reading about, even though there was something that felt like it was coiling around inside her that did know… something that disliked whatever they were.

Waverly moved towards the edge of the rent in the ground and looked into the darkness.  Fear coiled within her, niggling at the hope Yoanna had handed them.  The edge of the pit where they stood was close to twenty foot across but it narrowed alarmingly to less than half that just where it got too dark for her to see any further.  “How do we get them out of there, ‘Nonna?”  Would a rope reach?  Had they managed to arrest their fall?  How badly were they injured?  Could they climb to reach them?  “What’s that?”

Wynonna grabbed her sister back from the edge of the pit as another rumbling started up from the ground.  She feared another attack but there were no missiles from the air just the dawning horror from beneath as the pit that Sinn and Nicole had vanished into drew itself back together.  Trapping the two women beneath the earth.


	31. Chapter 31

“Sinn!  Sinn!”  Nicole kept her voice no higher than an urgent whisper even though she wanted to scream into the silence that surrounded her as the last rumble of noise above her head faded away.  “Sinn?!”  She peered around in the darkness, trying to get a bead on the soft moan she had been following once before everything had started shaking again and her torch had been knocked loose from her grip.

Something rolled against her hand as she scrambled her fingers across the floor in desperation.  She sighed in relief at the familiar shape of her torch and almost sobbed as it flickered to life.  It was a fairly powerful torch for its size but the beam seemed suddenly too pitifully weak against the sheer expanse of darkness.

Nicole pushed herself to unsteady feet, cataloguing ever scrape and bruise as raked the beam back and forth across the ground in the direction she thought she had heard the moan come from.  At least it was only scrapes and bruises, going by the ragged holes torn in her jacket and pants she was lucky.  “Shit!”  Swinging the beam back, she limped slightly, her body picking up speed as she moved towards the body lying on the floor almost hidden by the rocks she had either landed upon or had tumble down on her.

She was so still that Nicole feared that she had only imagined a groan from the other woman.  Then she saw the rise and fall of Sinn’s chest and heard another moan and saw Sinn start to struggle to rise.

“Don’t move,” cupping the back of Sinn’s neck, Nicole gently pushed her back to the ground.  She wanted the other woman back up and moving, but the blood she could see upon her skin where Sinn’s shirt had been ripped apart needed looking at first while they seemed to have a moment to deal with anything.  “Let me check you over.”

Sinn tried to stay still and quiet against the pain and the gentle probing of Nicole’s hands.  But either Nicole was very good at finding tender places or Sinn decided she was just going to be one huge bruise if her healing didn’t kick in with how often Nicole made her squirm and moan in pain.  Grabbing the woman’s hands, Sinn stilled her fingers and salvaged a bit of pride before she reached the part where Sinn knew the real damage to her body lay.  “Yoanna?”

“I- I haven’t seen her down here.  I think it’s just us that got caught in it… whatever that was?”  She left it unsaid that that could just mean they were the only ones that had fallen and lived and that she just hadn’t found any bodies.

“Nic-” Sinn groaned against the cold pain lancing through her back.  “Need… sit up… help.”

Going against her frankly limited medical training, Nicole put down her torch and gently helped Sinn with what she wanted.  Mostly because with every second she didn’t, Sinn seemed to grow more distressed and determined.  “Slow down, let me help.”  She braced the other woman from behind, using her body as a cradle.  Sinn’s booted heels thrashed and scraped at the dirt like she was trying to run away from the pain and her head rolled back and forth against Nicole.

“Sinn, you need to lay back down!”  Nicole started to lower her but Sinn grabbed her arm and braced the other against the floor to still her motion.

“No!  Need your help, Nic,” fighting the pain, Sinn pointed to her left side.  “Whatever that fucker was it sliced me on the way down… feel it in me.  Need you to get it out.”

“Okay, okay, let me roll you so I can take a look.”  With Sinn’s help, weak though it was, Nicole managed to ease Sinn over until she was lying across her thighs with her back towards her.  Even if she couldn’t tell by the amount soaked into her pants, the sound and feel of wet leather sticking to flesh as she peeled it out of the way told Nicole that the wound was bleeding heavily.

It was a ragged gash, slicing down across her shoulder blade and curving round under her ribcage.  With every beat of Sinn’s heart, blood welled up and overflowed.  Nicole started struggling out of her jacket so she could rip her shirt up into strips.  “Need to stop this bleeding.”

“Nicole, listen to me, please?  There’s a piece of it in me… I can feel it digging deeper.”  Looking over her shoulder, Sinn made sure that the other woman was actually listening to her and pointed to where she could feel it in her, cold and hard, worming its way inside.  “Nic, it’s going to hit my lungs soon, after that, if I don’t drown in my blood, it’s going to hit my heart.  Help me?”  Slipping a hand down to her boot, Sinn dragged a knife out and handed it to the redhead.

Nicole looked at the knife, her hand trembling around it.  “Are you sure?”  Her answer came as a soft moan and the limp heaviness of Sinn’s body across her legs as she passed out from the pain and blood loss.  She was scared.  Scared at the thought of cutting into Sinn.  Scared that she would make the wound worse.  Scared that if Sinn was right she would die.  Scared at the thought of been left alone down there, trapped beneath the earth.

A moan burst from her lips, indecision gripping her and stilling her hand.  Leaning forwards, she tried to get a look at Sinn’s face as she felt for her pulse.  Damp with sweat and melted snow, her hair clung to her face.  Brushing it aside, Nicole could see the pain etched around her mouth and eyes.

She could also see a faint blue glow as she leaned back.  Clicking off the torch, Nicole stared at Sinn’s back with dawning horror.  There was a part of her that had been hoping that Sinn was just rambling in pain or something but all doubt was removed as she saw the same blue glow that had rushed towards them, leaking out from the gash in Sinn’s back.

Using the glow as a guide to strengthen her resolve, Nicole put the knife to work upon Sinn’s flesh.  Bile rose in her throat as the smell of blood wormed its way into her nose and mind as she had to abandon the knife and use her fingers to grip the piece of blue lodged in Sinn’s back.  It was a claw, Nicole realised as she held it up, the tip of a claw.  She dropped it to the ground as it started to melt and watched as it vanished, leaving behind a stain of blood to show where it had been.

“You- you did good,” Sinn whimpered.

“Jesus, how long have you been awake, Sinn?”

“Long enough to know I never want a woman’s fingers in my body again… not that way anyway,” she chuckled weakly.

“I think you and Wynonna must have gone to the same school of bad puns,” Nicole chuckled in relief as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Sinn’s temple and tried to fight back a sob and tears of relief.

“Now, don’t go getting all soft on me, Haught.  We’ve got to get the hell out of here.”  Saying and doing were two different things, Sinn realised as her arms shook weakly instead of helping her get to her feet.

“Sinn, cool your jets for a moment and let me bandage you up before we do anything.”

Unable to protest, Sinn lay still and listened to the rhythmic sound of tearing fabric as Nicole made bandages out of her shirt and patched her up.  She drifted, knowing she had only when she opened her eyes and saw Nicole’s feet by her head as she couched down beside her.  “How long was I out for?”

“Probably not as long as you need to be.  But we need to get you out of here before hypothermia sets in and… I think I’ve found a way out.”

“What about the way we… oh…” Sinn followed the beam of Nicole’s torch, only then realising that the way they had plummeted down was sealed off.  “Well, that’s a bugger… so this way out then?”

“There’s a couple of tunnels leading off but there’s one over there I can feel fresh air coming through.  I like to climb… well I did.  Haven’t really had a chance to do any for a while with deciding to become a cop and moving here.  I did some training, mountain rescue, caving, potholing, stuff like that.”  As she talked, Nicole gently supported and helped Sinn off the ground.

“Looks like it’s going to come in handy today… which I am very grateful for as I know SHIT ‘bout any of that!”  Sinn grunted as Nicole parted the edges of her jacket to check her bandages.  “It’ll heal soon,” she assured Nicole in an attempt to erase the concerned furrowing of her brow.  “Do you think they all made it okay?”

“I hope so,” Nicole sighed.  “I sent an email, messages and texts while I was looking around.  Hopefully if the reception picks up enough something will get through so they know we’re okay.”  Slipping an arm around Sinn, Nicole supported her weight as best she could without jogging her injury as she guided Sinn towards what she was really hoping was a way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My poor, Sinn. Gets the hell beat out of her in her own story and then gets it here too.  
> Had to be done though as i didn't want Nicole to be in too much peril (not yet... kidding, maybe), especially after what i put her through in Fallen Angel.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIGH, got far too distracted today watching the sheer beauty of the Carmilla Movie trailer that came floating down from heaven. And been happy for, and jealous of, all the people getting to meet the Wynonna Earp gang at Dragon Con. I would be too shy to meet them even if i wasn't in a different country but they are just so amazing and wonderful.

Sinn tried to focus on everything around them, the sheer height and breadth of the tunnels, as they moved through them in search for a way out.  She tried to hold herself upright so as not to put too much pressure on Nicole but the further they went, the longer it took, she felt her feet dragging more and more even with the taller woman’s help.

Feeling the fullness of Sinn’s weight pulling on her, Nicole lowered Sinn down and made her rest upon a boulder while she checked her wound again.  “Still with me, Sinn?” cupping her jaw, Nicole forced her to focus on her.  “I didn’t take you for the quitting type,” she goaded gently.

“Not quitting… tried that once… nearly got everyone killed,” raising a hand, Sinn waived off the question in Nicole’s eyes.  “Long and very sad story with the happy ending of getting the girl.”  Groaning, Sinn pushed herself up against the wall.

Nicole reached out to help and felt panic race through her as Sinn’s hand grabbed her sleeve, her head whipping around to look back the way they had come from.  Nicole followed her eyes and saw a blue glow heading their way around the twists and turns of the tunnel.

“Shit, we need to move… now.”

Nicole threw her shoulder up under Sinn’s and helped steady her again as they hurried along as best as they could.  She kept an eye on the way ahead and stumbled slightly as she realized that there was blue coming at them from ahead too.

Against something the size of what had knocked the earth out from under them, Nicole wasn’t sure if her gun would be any use but she drew it anyway and heard the quiet click of a round been chambered as Sinn drew hers.  If she was going down, Nicole was determined to go down shooting to protect Sinn and herself.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief as they rounded the next twist in the tunnel and she saw an opening in the wall.  It was smaller than the main part, only just wide enough for them to squeeze through but it was all they had.  Feeling no stirring of air, Nicole feared that it was a dead end and tried to guide Sinn in first but the smaller woman twisted and pushed her ahead.  Before she could protest, Nicole felt the ground start to tremble under the weight of the creature’s steps as they neared.  She moved as deep as she could, cussing as her back hit wall far too soon for her peace of mind.

She felt the press of Sinn’s body against her, pushing her back flush to the wall even as a bitten off moan of pain escaped her at the pressure.  Nicole placed a hand on her shoulder and took aim.  “I’ve got you.”

“Nicole… trust me?”

“What?” she hissed.  Shifting her hand she held on to the back of Sinn’s jeans in case she decided to do anything stupid and heroic.  That was supposed to be her job.  To serve and protect.

“Trust me, Nicole,” Sinn whispered urgently.  “Close your eyes and just focus your mind on protection, imagine the strongest thing you can think of… smooth and impenetrable.  No matter what, just think about that.”  Sinn smiled as Nicole closed her eyes but tightened her grip on her jeans even more.

Taking a breath she called upon her power.  It was a part of her as much as her heartbeat of the instinct to just breathe.  It should have been easy but, for the first time ever, it hurt like hell and had her sagging into Nicole’s body.

“Sinn?”

“I’m okay.  Eyes closed, Nicole,” she commanded gently as their hiding place started to light up blue behind her.

“Just remember what I told you.  Know you felt our power before,” as gently as she could, Sinn pushed her power through Nicole.  She had no idea if what she had planned would even work but there was the memory of how Nicole’s aura had changed to be so similar to her own.  They were so close together, Sinn could feel the power flowing between them, pulsing and growing with each heartbeat.

Claws brushed against her back, snagging on her torn jacket.  “Build a shield for us Nicole… protect us from them,” Sinn whispered against Nicole’s ear.

Sinn felt the rush of power steal her breath as it flung itself through her body and slammed into the creatures behind crushing them against the wall of the tunnel and blowing their hiding place apart.


	33. Chapter 33

Wynonna reached for Waverly and Peacemaker at the same time as the ground ahead of them was wrenched open with a thunderous crack and a plume of snow and dirt snow rose up into the sky.  She looked around, searching for whoever was attacking them but rather than hold back with the rest of them, Yoanna rush forwards crying out the name of her fiancée.

At Yoanna’s shout, Waverly shrugged out of her sisters hold and rushed after the Vampire.

Drawing his weapon, Eric rushed after his Queen.  He trusted her abilities as much as he trusted Sinn’s to be in the middle of any chaos going on.  And where it was, was right on the path of Sinn and Nicole’s aura that Yoanna had been tracking through the forest since a single text had made it through from Nicole saying they were looking for another way out.

Progress had been slow, worryingly and painfully so.  They both knew that there was no way that Sinn would linger if everything was okay and it was Sinn that Yoanna could tell was injured as her pain cut through Yoanna too.  She reached the tare in the earth first and Eric redoubled his efforts to reach her side as she sagged.

“This is a fine mess you have made, my love.”

“Blame Nicole, her idea of a shield was a little more powerful than I expected.”  Sinn smiled up ruefully but she could see by the frown of concern on Yoanna’s face that she wasn’t buying her attempt of humour.  She tried to reach for Eric’s offered hand but it hurt too much to lift her own.

“She got clawed across the back,” Nicole explained as the guard dropped down into the hole with them.  “There was a bit stuck in her and I had to dig it out.”

“Yep, Nicole had her fingers in me real deep,” Sinn slurred as they hoisted her out.  She moaned a weak protest as Yoanna lifted the makeshift bandages.  “Hey, I’ll be okay.”

“Not without blood you won’t.”

“Not sure a helicopter could make it in this weather but we’ll get her to the hospital as quickly as possible.”

“That is not the kind of blood my Queen means, Agent Dolls.  I think it would all be best if you all gave them some room.”

Yoanna didn’t wait to see who left or who didn’t, her focus was entirely upon Sinn.  Cradling her with her body, she felt their hearts find each other’s rhythm.  Sinn rolled her neck to the side, exposing the left to her gentle kisses.  Even as hurt as she was, Yoanna felt the extra beat of Sinn’s pulse against her lips as she found the sweet spot where the blood flowed closest to the surface just for her.  Lifting her arm, Yoanna pushed back her sleeve and ran the tip of a blade across her left wrist.

She felt Sinn’s growl vibrate against her as the blood flowed and filled Sinn’s mouth as she latched upon it.  Yoanna wasn’t one to share blood, a Vampire Queen just didn’t do things like that, and neither was Sinn.  With Sinn it was different.  Flowing with their power, it healed and strengthened and created a bond between them.

Lowering her head, Yoanna felt the ache in her jaw increase tenfold as Sinn’s hand tangled in her hair and pulled her closer until her teeth pressed against her flesh.  Fingers flexed in her hair, a whimper vibrating against her lips as Sinn grew urgent beneath her.

She pressed gently, feeling Sinn’s flesh parting under the sharpness of her teeth.  The taste of her love exploded in her mouth and with a groan, Yoanna pulled her closer and poured power straight into Sinn as Sinn released hers against her wrist.  They kept the power flowing long after they sealed the wounds they had tasted from.  Long after the wounds upon Sinn’s body had healed.  They just let it build and fill each other until their bodies couldn’t contain any more and it flowed out to wash over and through the land and the people on it.

Yoanna felt it cling to Nicole even more than it did Eric and saw her aura strengthen and respond.  Even though she knew that Sinn’s back was healed, Yoanna lifted her shirt once more and ran her eyes upon the pale unmarked flesh and caressed the edges of the tattoo upon her side down to where it vanished beneath the edge of her jeans.

Sinn knew Yoanna’s look and touch well.  Her love wanted to reconnect in a more intimate way… preferably away from prying eyes.  And Sinn couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter in an attempt to reconnect with these muses.

Sinn didn’t need Yoanna’s none to gentle poke to her side to know that Nicole was looking at her, at both of them, like she was bursting with questions she wasn’t sure how to ask.  She could almost see them flitting around behind her eyes and on the drive back to Nicole’s she had seen the redhead’s mouth open as though to ask only for it to close again and a frown to flit across her face.  Which was frankly an utterly adorable expression on the other woman else Sinn might have taken pity on her and asked what was wrong.

Getting another jab, Sinn put down the book she had been studying and glowered at Yoanna for a second before turning back to the redhead.  “Nicole… you know, we’re not genies or something, you can ask us more than three questions.”

“I’m just not sure what I want to ask or if I’m just afraid that the answers will scare me.”

“Nicole, you live in a town overrun with demons… you’ve let a vampire into your house… and Sinn…”

“Hey!”

“…You don’t strike me as someone afraid of answers.”

“Okay… well… what in the hell was it you did when those creatures were coming for us?”

“You mean, what we did.  And a lot of that was you, I just guided it.”

“I don’t understand…”

“You read Rosita’s book on our history.  Sinn’s ancestors, my companions… from what we have seen of your aura, and now your power, we believe that you are related to one of those.  Maybe only distantly.  But since we have been here and had our powers touch you, your aura has changed, grown brighter and changed colour until it is more the gold I am used to seeing from Ella and Sinn.  When we first saw you and seeing how you were with Sinn…”

“I wish you would stop saying my name like I’m trouble or something.”

“… how she took to you and you kept her calm,” Yoanna continued, blatantly ignoring Sinn’s quiet griping.  “I would have guessed you were Empathic or some version of that.  Very useful in your line of work.  But after that…”

“What?”  Nicole questioned nervously.

“Sinn, Ella and I can create shields… barriers.  We have one around our home that protects us from anyone or think wanting to harm us.  Each part of our power and desire changes what our barrier can do.”

“That was why I was getting you to think protective thoughts.  Wasn’t even sure it was going to work with how low on power I was and not really knowing what you could do.  But I had to try.  If nothing else I was hoping that I could hold them back until they got sick of trying but… well, your power and idea of protection was more powerful than I thought,” Sinn chuckled at the memory.

“Sinn and I, we can manipulate things with our power but you my dear took it to a different level.”

“Is it, am I, dangerous?”

“Would you ever want to hurt anyone you loved?”

“No!  Never.”

“Then, no, you’re not dangerous.  The power, it’s in everything, Nic.  What I did just brought you up to where you probably already would have been if you weren’t living in demon central.  It might dim down once we leave, it may stay where it is or get stronger but it will never change who you are.”

“How can you be so sure?” Nicole asked nervously as Sinn settled back and picked her book up again.  She knew they had research to get back to, that was obvious from the ever increasing amount of snow coming down and the new satellite images that had made it through from their mysterious ‘friend’.  Whatever they had done earlier, it hadn’t fixed anything.

“Because, Officer Haught Dimples, ask anyone that now calls me friend how long I made their lives a living hell before we got to that stage… I don’t trust easily but you, Haughtshot, you I trusted from the moment we met… even though you’d pulled me over for speeding.”


	35. Chapter 35

Wiping a hand over her face, Sinn tried to stifle a yawn as she looked out of the kitchen window at all the snow that had fallen over night.  At least it still wasn’t as bad there as it was at the mansion.  She sighed, thinking about her friends and family been trapped like that.

Instinctively, she reached out for Yoanna with her power and wrapped her up closer.  Ever since Nicole had done a pretty impressive impression of a shield stuck on the front of a tank on the Jötnar, Sinn felt stronger, more connected to her power.  Still nowhere near full strength but better than it had been.

Of course, all the reconnecting they had done well into the wee hours of the morning had helped too.  Stretching, Sinn basked in the ache in her body from coming so hard and so often at the hands, fingers, tongue, mouth and just about anything she could think of, of her fiancée.  Now that was the kind of delicious pain she didn’t mind feeling.

A reflection joined hers at the window, hazel eyes rendered black against the bright snow.  A greeting died unspoken as she watched Waverly turn and look at her, her head tilting as she looked her up and down.  It wasn’t Waverly.  She could feel it.  Turning, Sinn stepped back slightly, keeping a gap between them as she returned the gaze of the thing wearing Waverly’s face.

“Who are you?”

Her… its… don’t think of it as Waverly… eyes were pools of solid inky blackness that stole the whites of her eyes.  The way she moved reminded Sinn of a snake trying to mesmerise its prey… which wasn’t a comforting thought as she was the one been studied like she was lunch.

“What has gotten into you, Waverly Earp?”  Sinn half whispered to herself.

“Mikshun, my name is Mikshun.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”  Sinn questioned cautiously as she kept a wary eye on the younger woman.

“Oh, it will once you become part of me like the others.”

The voice was Waverly’s and not at the same time… darker, sharp and deadly, seductively chilling and holding a hint of serpent to go with the image of her movements.  So utterly alien to the usual bright and sunny tones and Sinn wanted it gone.  “Hmmm, how about I just drag you out of her and crush you instead?”

“I think not, dear,” darting forwards, Mikshun grabbed the woman by the throat and pinned the hand reaching for a weapon with a bone grinding grip.  “It is _so_ exhausting trying to control this one.  She’s so damn good all the time that it’s just no fun anymore.  You though, you are all dark delights,” she purred.  “I’m going to enjoy playing with you and your lady love.”

Pinned in her grip, Sinn threw up her power as Mikshun pressed her lips against hers.  She could feel whatever was in Waverly trying to get inside her, the darkness caressing her lips, trying to entice and seduce with the promise of demonic power and the threat of pain.  Latching on to its promise, Sinn threw more of her own power at Mikshun, pushing back until the creature hissed in pain and anger and fell away from her.

“Not as tasty as you thought huh, Mikshun?  Now, back to my plan…”  Sinn tapped into every part of her power, letting it build and roil until the kitchen was alight with the green pouring from her eyes.

Before Sinn could carry through with her threat, she felt something change in the room.  Everything felt like it was grinding to a halt around her.  Glancing at a clock on the wall she saw the second hand slow and freeze as a hand as cold as the grave settled on the back of her neck.

It closed on her flesh like a vice and Sinn felt a slow motion dragging sensation as it yanked her backwards off her feet.  The window cracked and shattered around her body, glass and wood splintering and flying in all directions before been sucked back in to where they had been before her body had crashed through it.

Time felt like it snapped back and Sinn flipped back to her feet as she skidded to a halt in the middle of the field opposite Nicole’s house and glared at the dark skinned man standing before her.  She’d never met him before but she knew him and his reputation well.  “Baron Samedi, what’s a Lao like you doing in a place like this?”

“Making sure you don’t interfere where I don’t want you to, child.”

“You’re the one responsible for this god awful weather then?  I didn’t think that was your style.”

“I just made sure you got here to help.  Mikshun is not your problem though.  That you are to leave alone.”

“You expect me to leave Waverly possessed?”

“If she is to survive this you will have to.  Parts of Mikshun are scattered far and wide.  If it is to be destroyed for good it will be later when everything is in place.”

“And if I don’t agree with that opinion?”

“Purgatory and Bitten are close to been engulfed by the Jötnar, if they go the world will follow.  Try to interfere with Mikshun and I will throw you and your Queen back to your precious mansion to enjoy the end of the world… one second out of step of everyone else.”

“Son of a bitch!” at his grin, Sinn tried to reign her anger in check.  Lao could be tricky things to all accounts but she was in no doubt that he could do what he said.  “You’re the one making us all blink in and out then?”

“It’s slowing them and stopped you from just heading home.”

“Which means it can only be stopped from here… so no Jötnar in Bitten?”

“Correct.”

“Frustrating bastard,” she grumbled at his short answer.  “How do we stop them?”

“Promise me you will not interfere with Waverly or Mikshun.”

“Bit late for that isn’t it?” she waved a hand back towards the house.

“I will deal with that… this time only,” he warned.  “If you try to warn anyone else…”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember.  Okay, details on weapon and I will promise.”

“No, promise me first.  You can’t trick me so easily, Sinn.”

“Fine.  I promise that I won’t interfere with that.”

“The weapon you need, child, is one only you can call upon.”

“What?  Oh crap!  No!”

“Indeed,” he chuckled.  “I will maybe see you again one day, Sinn.”  Tipping his cane at her, he turned away.

“Baron!” she called after him, stopping him before he could walk away or simply vanish.  “If you see me again it will be because something happened to them because of my promise.  And if that happens, my face will be the last thing you ever see,” she ground out through gritted teeth.

“You can’t kill a Lao!”

“Look into my eyes, Baron.  Tell me, do you doubt me?”

Sucking in a breath, Baron Samedi felt fear and uncertainty for the first time in his existence as he looked into Sinn’s eyes and saw unwavering surety in hers.


	36. Chapter 36

“Sinn, what were you doing out there?”  Grabbing a throw from the couch, Waverly wrapped it around the other woman’s shoulders as she sat down at the table in the kitchen.  “Let me fix you a coffee.”

“Thanks, Waves.”  Sinn studied the younger woman intently as she bustled around the kitchen, moving from cupboard to cupboard, collecting what she needed with the confidence of someone that knew the layout well.  There was no sign at all of Mikshun within her eyes or movements, no sign that she was even aware that anything had happened.  At least Samedi hadn’t lied about that.

And if that was the truth then she had to assume that everything else he had said as well.  “Crap,” she muttered quietly.

“Sinn?”

“Sorry, just thinking about… things,” taking the offered mug out of Waverly’s hands, Sinn cupped it, warming her hands on it as Waverly sat down next to her.  “Hey, did you have any luck with your Jötnar research?”

“Not yet,” Waverly sighed, “I was hoping the net would clear up enough to look online but it wasn’t very good.  You?”

“Naw… tried a couple of times too.  Really wanted to get on to some resources I had access too.”

Eyes growing wide, Waverly put down her drink.  “How did you just manage to make resources sound so ominous?”

“That’s just natural talent,” Yoanna teased as she made her way over to her love.  Feeling the dampness of her clothes under the blanket, she arched a brow at her.

“Thought I saw something outside and managed to hit an icy patch while checking it out.”  Knowing Yoanna would be able to read the lie in her eyes, Sinn gave a barely perceptible shake of her head and drew Yoanna’s left hand to her lips to press a kiss across her pulse… their signal not to ask further when she had been caught out.

“You should be more careful, my love.”

“I try.”

Leaning down, Yoanna nipped at the side of Sinn’s neck.  “Try harder,” she whispered quietly.  “Now, if the ‘resources’ are the ones I think you mean… why do you need in on them?”

“Unfortunately they’ve got the only scanned versions of a couple of really old documents,” she glanced over at Waverly.  “The kind of documents it took five witches a year to work on a spell long enough to contain the scans and stop the computers catching fire.  I took a look at the originals once and nearly set the building on fire just jotting down notes.”

“Jeez!  Can you remember what the documents were about?”

Sinn sighed.  “Elves.”

“Oh… crap.”

“I thought Elves were just another name for Fae?”

“Waverly, if you ever have the misfortune to meet someone that calls themselves an Elf, don’t say that to them.  You are right though.  Fae and Elves are basically the same but the Elves have distanced themselves from what the Fae have done over the years.”

“You know one, don’t you?”

“Unfortunately,” Sinn pouted.

“It’s a sore subject with her,” Yoanna explained, “so to speed things along while my love pouts… Sinn’s biological father is an Elf.  Daechir, also known as Shadow Lord.”

“They don’t get along, huh?”  Which was something Waverly could relate to as her own father, or rather who she had thought was her father, had paid no attention to her, wouldn’t even look at her after their mama had left.  But at least he had just ignored her and hadn’t actively tried to kill her like their big sister, Willa had.

“Sinn is reluctant to even try.  Daddy issues,” she stage whispered.

“God, I hate it when you say it like that and you know it,” Sinn grouched.

“Well maybe if you stopped pouting when his name came up and took the time to actually talk to him I would stop saying it.”

“Oh.  My.  God.  All the sexual tension.  You two aren’t going to start fucking again are you?  ‘Cause if you are, I’ll take my coffee to go, sis.”

“Wynonna, you just got here and you brought coffee with you,” Waverly pointed out as her sister burst in, bringing the cold with her.

“I know… but I had a long night of ugg, research and I brought Jeremy back with me.  Waverly… he kept doing math at me!”

“There, there!”  Patting her sister’s shoulder, Waverly did a mocking eye roll behind her back as she threw herself down in a chair opposite Sinn.  “Where is Jeremy then…” she gasped, “you didn’t shoot him for doing math did you ‘Nonna?”

Wynonna snorted.  “Of course not!  I told him to stay in the truck.  Don’t worry, I told him he could crack a window open if he needed to.”

Hearing Wynonna’s comments, Nicole diverted to the front door and shouted to Jeremy who was, of course, sitting in the truck not even realising that anything was wrong.  Nicole shook her head as he jumped out of the truck and bounded through the snow towards her like… well, frankly like an over excited puppy still learning how to control his limbs.

“Hey, Nicole… I mean, Officer Haught.”

One of the most brilliant minds around and his smile made Nicole want to pat him on the head.  “Come on it, Jeremy.  And it’s just, Nicole.”

“Hi, Waverly.”

“Sinn, Yoanna, this is Jeremy Chetri.”

Wynonna looked up from rummaging around in Nicole’s fridge and waved in Jeremy’s direction.  “I blagged him from Dolls to round off the Adorable Dork Squad so you could all research faster.”

“Actually I prefer the term, Geek or Nerd…”

“Jeremy!”

“Okay, shutting up,” nodding furiously, Jeremy looked around the table, taking in the two strangers, a thoughtful look crossing his face.  “So, you want to know about Elves?”


	37. Chapter 37

Dropping her feet down from the table with a THUD, Wynonna pushed her chair back with a clatter and went to pour herself another coffee.  Damn it she needed something stronger, something alcoholic, but when she had asked, Waverly had glowered at her.  “So, recap… Jötnar… also known as Frost Giants are the big bad’s causing this hellish winter?  And they’re doing it to put the whole of the planet into another ice age so they can take over?”  She looked to everyone else in the room hoping to hell they would say she’d got it wrong.

“Pretty much… yeah.”  It was a struggle but Jeremy contained his excitement about the Jötnar before Wynonna could fix those piercing and very intimidating blue eyes on him again or order him back out to the truck.

“And the only way to stop them is to use an Elven weapon on them as they were the last ones to do battle with these shit eating frost bastards and win… which apparently, according to Jeremy, is knowledge that won’t do us a damn bit of good as no Elven weapons exist!  Not very helpful, Jer!” she snorted, throwing up her hands in frustration.

Waverly patted Jeremy’s slumped shoulder as he slumped down into a chair and nearly missed it in his attempt to escape her sisters wrath.  “Jeremy was just telling us what he knows, Wynonna.  He can’t help it if killing Jötnar isn’t going to be easy.”

“Not easy!?  Waves, the word Jeremy used was ‘impossible’!”  Turning her back on them all again, Wynonna topped up her barely touched coffee and stared out of the window at the damned snow… which she swore looked deeper than it had minutes before.

“Sinn… is there any way you could contact your… you know… does he do cell phones?”

“I don’t need to contact him, Waves.  I’m part Elf…” she mumbled.  “The weapons we need are already mine.”

“That should be good right?  Why doesn’t it sound good?”  Waverly finished with a quiet whisper at the despondent expression on Sinn’s face and the look of concern on Yoanna’s.

“Elven weapons are tricky bastards… part sentient and, because I didn’t want them to be mine, they are punishing me and calling on them means I have to claim them when I dream and go to my own personal hell and fight for them.  I’ll have them by morning,” Sinn sighed.

Nicole looked on in concern, absorbing Sinn’s words and what they might mean as Sinn pushed back her chair.  “Sinn?”

“Leave her be, Nicole,” Yoanna placed a gentle hand on Nicole’s wrist before she could follow Sinn outside.  “She’ll be okay… I’ll make sure of that,” she promised.

“But… what is it she needs to do exactly?  Can we help?”

“Nicole, you saw Sinn’s records, how many do they say she’s killed?”

“Three hundred.”

“Jesus,” Wynonna whistled.

“Black Badge records say it’s closer to five hundred,” Jeremy added.

“None of which are even close,” Yoanna looked out through the window, taking in Sinn’s bent head and dejected posture as she walked through the snow.  “Sinn will not appreciate me telling you, she bottles things up too much, but you need to know what she will be going through.  Sinn has made well over one thousand kills, all of them legal, most of them justified.  She is haunted by every one of those kills, and every one she wasn’t able to save by getting to them sooner.  That is what she will have to go through to get her swords.  The guilt of every death she caused, and every life unsaved… and worse… the man she thought of as her father will be waiting there too… and he murdered her mother and tried to rape Sinn several times.”

“Shit,” Wynonna slumped against the kitchen counter.  She knew what it was like to be so haunted after accidently killing her father and been forced to mercy kill her sister.  Hell even some of the fifteen Revenants she had sent to hell so far haunted her but that was a drop in the ocean compared to what Sinn had done.  “There’s no other way for her to get them?”

“No,” she sighed.  “If she accepted them they would just come to her hands but… stubbornness on both sides.  Meditation doesn’t work and neither do drugs as it takes too long to fight and doesn’t put her in the right part of sleep,” Yoanna looked around at their worried faces.  “It will not be a pleasant night so we will make use the plane.  Now if you will all excuse us, I need to spend some time with Sinn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a hint of what Sinn goes through in her nightmares this is part of chapter 27 of SInn...
> 
> Nightmares rushed in to torment her with a seemingly endless parade of the people she had killed over the years. They clawed at her body, ripping at her skin, screaming and demanding to know why she had killed them and what they had done to deserve it. They crowded in, pushing her down into the depths with their sheer numbers.
> 
> A hand grabbed hers and pulled her free and Sinn looked up at Ella’s smiling face. She stood there looking like a guardian angel in flowing white robes. Arms spreading out wide in invitation, Ella moved to envelope her in a comforting hug.
> 
> Her body jerked, pain and confusion filling her face and Sinn watched in horror as blood spread out across the white of her clothes as a sword ripped through her. Screaming, Sinn held her friend’s cold dead hand as shadowy figures crowded in and started ripping at Ella’s body.
> 
> “Blood and death… It always ends like that for anyone that gets close to you… blood and death.”
> 
> “Mom?” Sinn sagged into her arms and sobbed brokenly.
> 
> “Such a shame there’s nothing that could stop that before you lose another.”
> 
> Her mom’s fingers stroked over her face. Suddenly her soothing touch grew fierce, her fingers digging for her eyes. Sinn grabbed at her wrists and felt her skin start to sloth away under her fingers. She screamed trying to push away as her Mom’s body started rotting and falling apart inches away from her face. Sinn stumbled backwards, falling back amongst the rotting bodies of the dead as her Mom’s rotting body fell upon hers as they tore for her heart.
> 
> “Such a shame…”


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more in here on Sinn and Yoanna's story. If you happen to want to know more about them... it's in the story 'Sinn' :)

Nicole winced, her heart breaking a little more as a scream, one of many already that night, echoed through her house.  Steeling her nerves, she finished making drinks for herself and Eric and took them through into the living room.

“Thanks,” Eric took the offered mug off the young woman and studied her over the steam rising from the mug as he took a sip.  “You shouldn’t be here, not for this.  If you want I could take you to your friends place… the homestead?  The SUV can make it through this.”

“Eric, how could I not be here?  I…”

Putting his mug down, Eric eyed the young woman.  Sinn and Yoanna were more than the people he was employed to protect, they were his friends and he wanted to know what Nicole was thinking about.  “What?”

“I just feel connected to her somehow, to Sinn.  Kind of felt it from the moment she nearly took the wing mirror off my cruiser,” Nicole smiled at the memory.  “Sometimes you just meet someone and know they’re going to be big in your life.  I got that from her.  I couldn’t just follow my police training then any more that I could let you all go out to spend the night in an unheated plane and I can’t leave her now.”

She had made Waverly go home with Wynonna though.  He girlfriend had had a better day, had felt more like her Waverly than she had in a while and they had enjoyed their time together that morning, working together at the station.  As the day had gone on though, their paths had diverged as Nicole had been drawn away from the station to help people getting into trouble with the worsening weather and Waverly had been drawn into research with Black Badge.  In the end, after an especially out of the way trip to talk to the Skin Walkers about the forest, the weather had just been too bad for them to do more than make it to where they were now.

“How long have you known them?”

“Hmm, Yoanna only about a year now.  Sinn… well, Sinn is complicated.  For years she popped in and out of our lives, riding in all mysterious and dangerous as hell, causing trouble and yet fighting on the same side of us and then riding off again.  Really we’ve only known her for a year too.  Once they got together she stayed and fought for what she wanted… fought at our sides… died for us...”

“Died?”

Eric looked up, Yoanna and Sinn had told him he could tell Nicole anything but he still balked at letting information of such magnitude out.  He trusted their opinions though.  “Yoanna is Queen.  Every Vampire alive in the world is linked to whoever turned them and if anything happens to the one that turned them…”

“It can kill the ones they created?”

“Exactly.  Yoanna is the last of the original Vampires.”

“So if something happened to her… it’s game over?”

“That’s the theory… or it was… their power changes the rules a little but before that change came in… Sinn’s, Mentor used her friendship with Ella to blackmail Sinn and tried to get her to kill Yoanna, they didn’t know who Yoanna was, it was just his way of controlling her.  Well, Sinn went and fell in love with Yoanna and used the time he’d given her to try and wiggle out of it to protect everyone.  Silly girl tried one last ditch mission to find him and end it or die trying but the bastard kidnapped Ella.  Long story but… Sinn, Yoanna and Marcus, Ella’s husband, found where he was and went in to get Ella.  Sinn and Yoanna were shot, they were both dying… all the Vampires started to drop like flies and Sinn saved everyone by forcing Yoanna to drink her blood so she could heal.”

“How?”

“That is even more complicated,” he smiled.  “They’re not even sure how but… Nina… her ghost, spirit, whatever, it healed Sinn and brought her back to life so they could be together and heal everyone.”

“Wow,” Nicole breathed softly.  “And I thought things were weird around here with the Earp curse.”

“Yep, definitely gets interesting being one of the more mortal everyday humans trying to keep their stubborn asses in check.  Bad enough… well no, I can’t say that… Mel and the twins are the best thing to happen in my life.”  Fishing out a picture from his wallet he handed it over to Nicole.

“They’re all beautiful,” Nicole smiled as she took in the happy smiling face of the woman and the chubby faces of the babies she was holding.

“And all Werewolves.”

“Even the babies?  But…”

“Yeah, it’s rare.  Mel was born a Werewolf but not many make it.  One change during a full moon and it ends with a miscarriage.  They’re around because of Sinn, Yoanna and Ella.  They helped keep Mel calm enough to hold off changing.”

“Don’t you ever get like… tempted to lock them up to keep them out of trouble?”

Eric chuckled at Nicole’s wide eyed expression.  “It’s been suggested but frankly, those two are the strongest of them all and when they fight with each other and for each other… my money is on them every time.  And if they go down, I’ll be right there with them every step of the way.  And generally, the worst stuff that’s happened has been when they’ve done something stupid like keeping things from each other to protect the other.”

“Eric, why are you telling me all this?”

“They trust you and said I could.  And frankly, I think you need to know what they’re like.  They’re fiercely loyal to each other and what they believe in and they will be in this fight to the end.”

Nicole winced as Sinn’s screams reached them again.  “Yeah, I kinda get that.”

“I’m going to take a look around outside,” he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “You should try and get some sleep, put on some music or something.  Unfortunately it’s going to be a long night for them both.”

Nicole nodded but she could tell by the tenseness around his eyes that neither of them would be getting much rest until Sinn was done going through her own personal hell.

She watched as Eric got ready to go outside.  Just the sight of the layers he put on made her suddenly aware of the wind lashing against the house and the patter of driven snow against the windows.  “Eric,” he looked back, his eyes barely even visible behind the ski goggles.  “Be careful out there, ‘kay.”  He mumbled something from behind the balaclava covering his face and resorted to patting the rifle over his shoulder and giving a thumbs up before opening the door and nearly turning the house inside out with the force of the wind and snow that took advantage of the opening.

Nicole waited long enough to make sure he was keeping close to the house… not that there was much else he could do without risking getting lost.  She knew the type though, he just needed to be doing something that felt like a normal routine.  Which was probably the same reason she made her way upstairs even though she knew there would be no sleep.

Her hand was on her bedroom door when another scream, even more pitiful and broken than the ones before, came from the spare bedroom and she found her feet carrying her towards it.  Once at the door though she hung her head, closing her eyes in uncertainty as she listened to the quiet sobs and whimpers.  She felt a connection to Sinn and Yoanna but really she had no right to intrude.

“You can come on in if you want, Nicole.  You won’t disturb her.”

“Kind of forgot how good your hearing is,” Nicole smiled softly in apology as she edged into the room.  “I really didn’t mean to intrude.”  Her smile slipped as she finally got a look at Yoanna sitting beside the bed and took in the pain in her eyes and the tears upon her cheeks as she looked at Sinn.

“How’s she doing?”  Moving closer, Nicole looked down at Sinn.  She looked… terrible and that was comparing her to how she was after they had fallen through the ice.  Her body contorted upon the mattress, the grey sweats and t-shirt she had laid down in almost black from the sweat soaking them through.  Her face was pale but the scratches upon it and her arms were livid in contrast.

“I know she can make it through but I hate seeing her like this… being unable to help.”  Sighing deeply, Yoanna raised Sinn’s hand within her own and pressed her cheek against it.  “She’s far too stubborn and carried too much guilt within herself and there’s no need for any of it.  You hear me, Sinn… stubborn,” Yoanna bit back a sob.

“Yoanna, would it be okay if I stay in here with you both for a while?  As long as it won’t interrupt anything that is?”

“It won’t be pleasant…”

“Actually, I think it would help if I could just see how she’s doing.”

“Then, I would be glad of the company and I’m sure Sinn will be too.”

Grabbing a stool from by the dresser, Nicole sat beside Yoanna.  “Do you think she knows we’re here?”

“She’s pretty deep in it right now, at the stage where she doesn’t really respond enough to wake but she seems to respond to touch and talking calms her a little.  Whatever happens though, promise me you won’t try to wake her or get to close, she won’t meant to but you’ve seen her strength?  If we are to defeat the Jötnar we need those damned swords of hers and I would hate for her to have to go through this again.”

“I promise.”

It was a promise that she kept but it wasn’t easy.  As the hours ticked slowly by the time between screams and thrashing grew less and less until it was almost continuous.  It was a promise she had agreed to with every intent of following through on but it became harder and harder and Nicole.

But she held fast and stayed out of Yoanna’s way while she cared for Sinn and during the all too brief moments of peace, Nicole cared for Yoanna.  Placing a hand on Yoanna’s, Nicole gently squeezed the Vampire’s fingers reassuringly.

“Nicole!”

Nicole tried to throw herself out of the way but Sinn was faster.  One moment she was resting and the next her arm struck out and her hand latched on to Nicole’s wrist.  Nicole expected pain… to feel her bones being ground to dust under the force of her strength.  Instead she felt herself falling into darkness.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eeep

Nicole fell…

At least, she assumed she was falling.

There was nothing around her, no light, no breeze.  Just a sense of… nothing.

Nicole fell…

Had she always being falling?  No, she could remember… She could remember Yoanna’s warning shout.  She could remember the lightning fast strike and strength of Sinn’s hand grabbing her arm but there had been no pain, only blackness and falling.

Was she dead?  Was she still falling?

Nicole reached for where Sinn’s hand had grabbed and felt a burst of relief slam through her as she realised that she could actually feel her own body.  So, not a spirit then… unless ghosts could feel their own bodies?  Okay, so at least there was no pain… but there was a pressure beneath her own hand that she became aware of even as she lifted her own.  The feeling and warmth of something wrapped around her.  Nicole wondered if it should worry her but even as the thought formed she realised she felt strangely comforted by it.

_“Nicole!”_

Yoanna’s voice, faint and distant, teasing her ear like a whisper on a breeze.

Nicole wanted to open her mouth to shout back, to assure the distressed sounding Vampire that she was okay… even though she wasn’t even sure if she was.  But suddenly she knew, just as she knew that whatever was happening, she needed to see it through.

The knowledge seemed to release something and Nicole heard a child’s sob right in front of her.  Nicole’s world tilted, righting itself as she found she wasn’t standing but lying down and there wasn’t as endless expanse of darkness around her… just the tight confines of a… car trunk?

She was in a car trunk?

Nicole thrashed backwards and upwards, trying to beat against the fabric of the car but the image around her shifted with her, keeping her a prisoner just as surely as the chains wrapped around the child thrashing and crying in front of her were holding her.

It was too dark to really make much out but Nicole knew, just knew, that the child was Sinn and somehow she’d been dragged into her nightmares.

Nicole was used only to the dreams she shared with Waverly.  She had no control over when they took place, that was Waverly’s doing, her powers, but once they were dreaming together, Nicole could feel and touch, she had autonomy.  This… this was, literally, like being trapped in someone else’s nightmare.  A 3D virtual world playing out around her and knowing that what was happening around her, that the child in front of her would survive and grow into a remarkable woman helped as she was forced to watch as the trunk filled up with water and her small body started to twitch and spasm within the cruel restraint of the chains as her body failed and the light started to go out in her eyes.

Light!

It filled the trunk.  Burning from Sinn’s body.  Filling every available space with golden hues that burst through the chains, shattering the links, and twisting the metal of the trunk apart to expel Sinn’s almost lifeless body.

Nicole found herself on the shore of a lake, her body laying next to Sinn’s amongst the mud and grass.  She heard a dog and the worried shouts of a man but the landscape kept shifting, growing clear in detail and then fading in and out to just simple shapes.  Glancing at Sinn, Nicole realised that the moments of clarity came when her eyes were open and the faded times were as she seemed to almost lose consciousness.

A man rushed along the shore.  The sight of him sent a wave of dread and fear through her that grew a thousand times worse as he grabbed Sinn off the ground.  The landscape grew distorted, twisting, darkening as Sinn dangled helplessly from a hand that was suddenly bigger than it should have been as nightmare replaced a memory that was already horrific.

Instinctively, Nicole grabbed for the man’s arm, pulling on it in a futile attempt the free the child version of her friend.  “Let her go!  This isn’t real!”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Nicole froze as his voice coiled around her and his other hand wrapped around her throat.  “Sinn,” Nicole grabbed for the child’s hand and held on even as the hand tightened around her throat.  “This is the past, let it go!  Remember what you’re here for.  Remember Yoanna!”

“Nic- Nicole?”

“Yes, it’s me,” the hand at her throat loosened and Nicole pulled Sinn’s tiny frame into the comfort of her arms.  “I’ve got you,” she whispered over and over, a sob breaking from her lips as Sinn relaxed against her.

“Thank you.”

The whisper of a voice was quiet against Nicole’s ear.  More adult.  And Nicole was left feeling suddenly bereft as Sinn faded from her arms and she found herself alone as the lake landscape crumbled and blew away like autumn leaves.

Nicole stood there for a moment, wondering if that was it?  Had Sinn found her weapons?  If Nicole really was somehow there with her in Sinn’s dream, in her nightmares, was her part played and she was free to go?  Could she even leave if she wanted to?

It didn’t feel like any dream walking she had done with Waverly and she felt helpless and pretty much terrified thinking about what it must be doing to Sinn to be trapped amongst memories like that, knowing she had to stay there and work through them.

The world shifted around her again, one scene being replaced by a dizzying amount.  They flickered all around her, above her, below her.  So many they overlapped until there was just too many to take in.

As she watched them, Nicole realised that it must be how Sinn viewed them after so many years of hunting Vampires, Werewolves and a seemingly endless parade of creatures… of monsters.  All of them taking a piece of her.  Guilt building up until they spilled into one mass, their screams and roars building into a cacophony of sound that had Nicole paralyzed, her hands covering her ears as the lone figure of Sinn was buried by the weight of over a thousand kills and all their victims.

Shocked out of her stupor by a pitiful broken sob that somehow made it to her through everything, Nicole surged forwards to help but was pushed by the mass of bodies that stood between them.  One of them turned, the same man as before at the lake.  His twisted face was twisted in loathing as he snarled at her and planted his hands against her chest and gave a shove that sent her tumbling down a steep incline.

Nicole came to a halt, her back against a tree.  She looked around for any sign of why she was there but she was alone.  Something was coming though, she could hear the sounds of engines getting closer.  Motorbike and car.  Both going too fast.

There was an all too familiar sound, metal meeting road in a way that said something was tumbling and sliding along asphalt.  She didn’t have but seconds to wonder what was happening as a bike flew out of the darkness and crashed to a halt beside her.  Nicole was aware of one of the riders moving but it was the other her eyes locked upon as she came to a rest at the same tree she had.  Her body broken, bleeding, barely even moving.

Once more, even knowing that Sinn survived, it was still heart breaking to see her like that.  So wounded, closer to death than she was to life and at an age where the world should have lain before her full of new adventures and possibilities.  Or it should have… green eyes flickered open, full of pain and… a resignation as though she had already seen too much and had never expected her life to go any other way than it was right then.  It was an expression that was somehow even more heart breaking to see than all the damage wrought to her body.

Kneeling at her side, Nicole tried to focus on her and not the horrific sound coming from across the clearing as Vampires descended upon the other person that had been on the bike.  She saw enough though, more than she wanted as they ripped him apart until a vision in white descended amongst them and sent them running for their lives.

Nicole’s eyes grew wide when she saw Yoanna walking towards them, ancient and powerful, looking every bit as beautiful and elegant as ever even when she knelt upon the blood soaked ground.  There was a heavy sorrow in her eyes as she looked at Sinn that turned to wonderment as Sinn opened her eyes and looked at her.  Nicole saw the same look in Yoanna’s eye, the shift from sorrow to confusion, wonderment, a connection that left her teetering right there on the edge of love.

Nicole turned her eyes away as Yoanna opened up her wrist and got Sinn to drink from her.  She wasn’t repulsed by what they were doing… had done.  Even though she had seen them drink from each other, this, she knew, was their first time together, and just seemed too private a moment to intrude upon without their consent even though every touch was chaste between them.

As the sounds stopped, Nicole turned back and watched Yoanna vanishing out of sight as a man entered the clearing.  It was him again!  Just the sight of him standing there, looking down at Sinn with a look of disgust upon his face, made Nicole want to lash out at him.  As though sensing her, his eyes turned to her and he lashed out, trying to grab her.

His ragged nails dragged across her clothing, catching at the fabric.  But before his touch could find purchase he, and everything else, vanished again and Nicole found herself pitched back into more memories.

They were gentler, many of them no less horrific, but more and more often figures joined Sinn.  Fighting alongside her, drawing her into a reluctant friendship… or… Nicole decided as she saw Sinn kick a seven foot giant of a man, a Vampire at that, in the nuts… maybe it was just a desire not to kill?

Then Yoanna was there.  The deaths still hurt Sinn on some level, Nicole could feel it.  But when she did kill, she could see it in Sinn’s eyes that there had been no other choice and she knew it.  And with Yoanna there, Nicole could feel the love between them as they battled to keep each other safe.

They were softer, gentler and, Nicole realised as she looked around, they were getting crowded out under the weight of the darker ones as bodies piled up around the edges, blocking out the light, twisting them into nightmares of what could have happened if a shot had been too late, a move done wrong until it all crashed down around them and Sinn disappeared under the weight of all their bodies.

Nicole blinked as she sat up.  It was dark.  An inky blackness that was loath to give up details.  Beneath her hands she could feel coarse sand shifting through her fingers and she could hear the soft lapping of water just beyond the end of her feet.

She focused on those things, bringing what she was feeling and hearing into reality until Nicole could see that she was sitting on the edge of a lake so wide she couldn’t see the other side.  Brushing the sand from her hands she slowly stood up.  Her movements shifted the pure white sand, pushing it into the dark water and Nicole felt fear claw at her soul as she saw the ‘black’ water stained the sand blood red.

She fell back, clawing her way backwards through the sand from the lake of blood that was suddenly full of bloated bodies.  Her hand fell upon a smooth rock and she froze, just knowing that when she looked she was going to see something she didn’t want to.

Nicole looked down at what her hand lay upon.

“Yeah, knew I didn’t want to see that,” she whispered brokenly as she gazed into the dark sockets of the human skull and took in all the other human bones littered amongst the crushed bones that made up the sand.

Nicole scrambled back to her feet again and tried to shake the bone fragments off her clothing.  She couldn’t take her eyes off the skull for some reason.  She tried but those black sockets kept drawing her gaze like the scene from a horror movie.  Nicole half expected the skull to move but in the end it was the lake that provided the next horror.

There was no blood around them anymore.  It was just all bloated bodies that writhed and shifted until it was like watching a pit of snakes coiling around each other.  Nicole saw faces amongst them, distorted faces she had seen in the other nightmare visions.

Rising briefly out of the centre of it all, Nicole saw a hand.  Sinn, she just knew it was Sinn being buried under the weight of her guilt.  Drowning in it.

Without even thinking beyond the need to save, Sinn, Nicole plunged in amongst the bodies.  She pushed them aside and forced her way towards the other woman.  Grabbing her, Nicole pulled her loose and wrapped her arms around her.

Like a spell broken, the bodies slipped away and vanished, leaving them clinging to each other.

“Nicole?”

Nicole held her closer, hands running up and down Sinn’s back in gentle strokes that soothed the tension out of both of them.  She was afraid to let go.  Afraid that if she did, Sinn would be dragged back into her nightmares and she had endured more than she deserved to already.  “I’ve got you.”

“How can you say that now you’ve seen what a monster I am?”

Her voice was low, weighted with sorrow and self-loathing.  “A monster?  Is that what you think?  Sinn, I’ve seen monsters, seen demons that just delight in causing pain.  It’s because of them and this that I know more than ever that you’re not a monster.  For you, this is a nightmare even though I _know_ and have seen that you were forced in to it by others… even by the actions of the ones you had to kill.  If you were a monster, this would mean nothing to you, it would be the good times.  But instead you use it to punish yourself and as a way to stop yourself from accepting your weapons… and speaking of which?”

“No,” Sinn chuckled brokenly, knowing what Nicole was wondering, “I haven’t got them yet.  He’s got them.”

Following Sinn’s gesture, Nicole saw a shadowy figure standing a little way away from them.  At the sight, Nicole half expected to see the man she had seen haunting most of Sinn’s nightmares but the shadow bled away and a man took a step forwards.  The word ‘man’ didn’t fit though.  Oh, he was masculine alright, but even from one step she could see that his movements were not human.  Delicate, otherworldly.  It matched his features from his delicate diamond shaped face, his straight eyebrows and pointed tipped ears.  His shoulders were wider than his delicate face suggested they would be and they were made wider by the leather armour and cloak he wore with all the poise and bearing of someone that had many years to grow accustomed to their weight and to the sword hanging at his side.  “Who?”

“Nicole, whilst it is not really him, just the cruel idea of a joke created by my mind and the weapons… May I introduce, Daechir, my Father?”  She gave a mocking bow that was returned by the facsimile of her father.

Nicole could feel the resistance in Sinn almost vibrating down her body into the hand she held.  “You don’t have to accept him, Sinn.  That will come in your own time, on your own turns and only if you want.  We need your weapons though… they’re yours, please, accept them?”

Sinn nodded and took a step towards the waiting figure but her step was met by one in retreat by him and his eyes subtly shifting towards Nicole.  “Take my hand,” Sinn held her hand towards the redhead by kept her eyes upon her father.  As Nicole’s long fingers curled around her hand, Sinn saw the briefest hints of a smile play about his lips.  “I think you’re wanted.”

“What?”  Nicole frowned in confusion but matched her steps with Sinn and allowed herself to be drawn along until they were both standing before Daechir.  Who, Nicole decided, was even more handsome and even more intimidating up close.  From a distance, with his looks, she had assumed that he would be short but his green eyes, ones that looks so very much the same as Sinn’s, looked down at them from a body that she guessed was about six foot five.

His hands raised, reaching for the hilts of swords crossed behind his back.  Nicole nearly flew back at the sudden move but Sinn’s hand gave hers a squeeze and the moment of fear passed into confusion as Daechir drew the swords and knelt before them with the hilts of the swords held out in offering.

Still holding on to Nicole’s left hand, Sinn reached for the one sword nearest to her.  “I am so sorry, Nicole.  The other is for you, take it.”

“But they’re yours?”

“Look at the hilt, Nicole.”

Nicole did as Sinn had said and looked.  When they had been held out, both swords had been solid black but as she looked… the one nearest to her changed.  Red, the same colour as her hair twisted around the hilt and streaked along the length of the wickedly sharp looking, slightly curved blade until it looked almost gold.  The gem in the hilt changed too, going from green to brown and gold like a Tiger Eye.

“Take it,” Sinn whispered softly.

“You’re giving me one of your swords?”

“They are mine, and I would if I could… but they are not mine to give.  Elven weapons are tricky… obviously,” she gestured around.  “These came to me after I was able to take my Father’s sword from him.  They can only be used by someone deserving… which in the eyes of the Elves means only someone with Elf blood… family.”  Sinn squeezed Nicole’s hand tighter as she saw her mouth drop open in astonishment.  “Please, Nicole, I’ll try and explain more later but, for now… please take the sword so we can get out of here?”

Fearing that they might become trapped if she refused, Nicole reached for the hilt of the sword.  As her fingers wrapped around it she couldn’t hold back the soft sound that came from her mouth.  The sword felt like it was greeting her, like it was pleased to be in her hand.  The sensation was almost as shocking as the realisation that her hand… her body was glowing gold just as Sinn’s was.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nicole with a sword? Be afraid, be very afraid o.O


	40. Chapter 40

Consciousness came back slowly and painfully like the five worst hangovers and waking up in hospital after an operation to repair her shoulder all rolled into one.  Blinking slowly, Nicole cautiously opened an eye and looked at the tangle of black hair on the pillow next to hers and the green eyes staring at her from it.

She know those eyes but for the life of her, Nicole couldn’t work out why Sinn was in bed with her… or why she was in bed with Sinn she realised as she made out the headboard that belonged on the bed in the spare room.

“Well, look who’s finally awake!”

Nicole groaned as Wynonna’s voice thundered through her head with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

“’Nonna!  Downstairs, now,” Waverly hissed at her sister, backing up her order with a forceful point of her finger.  Moving over to the bed, she gently lowered her weight onto the edge of it.  “Hi, Sweetie Pie.”

Nicole sighed as Waverly’s gentle fingers combed her hair back from her eyes and brushed across her cheeks and jaw.  Her touch soothed Nicole’s frantically spinning mind and had her eyes drifting shut as she relaxed into it.  Only as she felt Sinn’s hand flex within her own did she realise that it was there.  Part of her felt that she should let go but an even bigger part felt that was a bad idea and Sinn didn’t seem to be inclined to release her either.

“Yoanna, what happened?”

Yoanna glanced across the bed and met the worried hazel eyes of the young woman.  “I am not too sure, Waverly.  We were talking and Sinn was relatively calm.  Then she suddenly sat up and grabbed Nicole’s arm.  I tried to separate them but it just made them both grow agitated so I got them settled and left them alone.”

“She help-” Sinn cleared her throat and tried again.  “Nicole helped me.  I think I somehow dragged into whatever vision hell that is I go through and she helped.  Don’t think I would have made it without her.  It was just too much this time.”

Sinn tried to sit up but her body felt like it had been ran over… or just been to hell and back a couple of times.  Which was pretty accurate when it came to nightmares over twenty years in the making.

“What time is it?”

“Just gone eight… in the morning before you panic.  Rest, both of you,” Yoanna ordered gently as she pushed Sinn back against the pillows.  “You need your strength before we do anything else.”

Waverly gently pulled the comforter up over them both and pressed a lingering kiss to Nicole’s forehead.  A soft smiled ghosted across her lips, just enough to bring the first hints of her glorious dimples into view.  Before she could even straighten up though, Waverly could tell by their breathing that they were both on the verge of falling asleep and still their hands were clasped.

“Are they going to be okay?”

Yoanna smiled softly as she gazed at the two women.  Right then though they were relaxed.  Yoanna could see it from both of them and feel from Sinn.  It was a state Sinn would never be if she thought that something was wrong.  Sinn could be annoyingly on guard if anything niggled at her that said there was a reason to worry.  It was a good trait for a Hunter to have, one that had saved them all often, but it was sometimes frustrating with just how often she was right.

“They are fine. Come, they’ll be hungry when they wake,” with one last glance towards the bed, Yoanna gently steered Waverly from the room.  Finding out exactly what had happened to them, assuming they knew that much, could wait until later

As the door closed, Nicole fought off the heavy weight of sleep trying to pull her under.  “Sinn?”

“Mhmm?”

Nicole rolled to her side to face the other woman.  Even through the early morning glow brightening the room, she could see a visible glow coming from her green eyes as she blinked sleepily up at the ceiling.

“Can’t help but notice you’re not holding a sword… which is probably good in bed and all but… Did it work?  Your weapons?”

Sinn turned her head and slowly rolled so she was facing Nicole too.  “Our weapons.  I’ve got mine and you’ve got yours too.”  She could see the confusion clouding Nicole’s eyes and creasing her brow.  “What do you want first, a kind of explanation or to see them?”

“Kind of explanation?”

“Well, I can only speculate as to why you got one ‘cause no one ever explains shit to me either,” she chuckled softly.  “Of course, doesn’t help that most of the people that would know are either dead or hate me… sometimes both,” she shrugged.

“Hey,” Nicole gave Sinn’s hand a firm squeeze before she could get lost in painful memories.  She had already fought through her nightmares once and Nicole didn’t want her going there again.  “How about you try the explanation thing first then?”

“Most of it was in Rosita’s book…”

“Which was all very flowery.”

“Yeah,” Sinn chuckled.  “Okay, recap.  Eight Vampires were created by the Fae slash Elves but never call them that.  Then the created eight Companions slash Witches slash Sisters depending on who you ask, to live with the Vampires and grow with them.  My ancestor was best buds with Yoanna.  The Church got all bent out of shape about Vampires.  Probably jealous that they could actually deliver on something close to an immortal life without everyone having to take a leap of faith or having to give up all their money. The Vampires never did that though, by the way, turning someone into a Vampire is a very, very, tricky process and all they wanted was to just help people but of course the Church wasn’t impressed by that either.”

As Sinn talked, Nicole listened intently, even more captivated by Sinn’s retelling of Yoanna’s history than she had been by the flowery version Rosita had written down.

“The Church decided they couldn’t have Vampires going around being all good and noble so they got together and set up a secret group, Mentors to kill the Vampires and Companions.  They quickly worked out that they were no good at the first and set about turning the Companions and their children against the Vampires and used them... Turned them into Hunters.”

“Over the years, Yoanna kept a rather impressive track of where the Companions and their descendants ended up but she never found out what became of Christina and thought her bloodline had been lost.  Instead they’d been taken in by the Fae.  Time passes slower in their realm so the generations between myself and Christina is much shorter… Yoanna believes that’s why I’m more powerful than the others.”

“That…”

“Shush, thinking.  Part of my ‘power’ is being able to track auras.  I can tell what kind of abilities, if any, someone has by their colour.  Yoanna is a golden red, humans are a whitish yellow, Vampires are red, Werewolves green… people like me… like you… we’re gold.”

Nicole stared at her hand, remembering the golden glow she had seen in their shared dream.  “But…  Sinn, I can’t do the things you do…”

“Says the woman that flattened a Jötnar with a shield,” Sinn chuckled and gently nudged the other woman.

“That was you though!”

“Nope, if that shield had been down to me right then, we wouldn’t be around to have this conversation.  I was too weak to do much of anything by then other than guide you.  As to why you’ve never noticed anything before… some of it comes down to training… you saw for yourself the kind of training my Mentor believed in… it could also be down to the places you’ve lived.  Would have been a hell of a way for your ancestors to stay hidden… to live in areas that dampened their natural abilities.”

“Okay, kind of makes sense,” Nicole nodded grudgingly.  “But why are they showing now?  Why not before?”

“Now that you can lay at my door.  Over the years… Hunters, well we lost a good part of what our ancestors had when they lived with the Vampires.  Until I shared power with Yoanna I knew the mechanics of creating a shield but it wasn’t something I could do… that was one of Ella’s strengths.  I was better at reading auras but I could only see certain ones.  Now… well, let’s just say I’m much better and you’ve seen a fraction of my speed and strength when I was sparring with Yoanna.  And…”

“And?”

“With Yoanna being Queen, the last of the first eight Vampires, when we get together it kind of ends up a power explosion… in a good way!” she rushed to explain.  “Unless there’s lots of windows or water is around that is,” she gave a little strangled cough as she thought of all the times they inadvertently blown out the window at the mansion and blown Ella’s Vampire husband, Marcus across the room by making love in the shower at the same time he’d decided to use a tap.

“We don’t keep our power to ourselves.  It ripples it and makes everyone stronger.  Not Demons, theirs is the wrong kind of power.  You… you’re the right kind… and being around us is breaking through even the dampening effect of this place.  You are like me though… if not, you would not be able to hold that weapon.”

“Then, not to be pedantic but… what weapon?” still holding Sinn’s hand, Nicole both of hers to show… yep… no sword!

Sinn chuckled at the look on Nicole’s expressive face.  “I’ll show you.  First though… although I am very, very, more than I can express, grateful… how were you able to get into my dream?”

“I thought that was you.”

“You kind of didn’t seem too out of your depth to be there though, Office Haught.  How many people’s dreams have you walked through?”

“Just Waverly’s.  She’s the one that can do it though,” she rushed to explain.  “She’s always been able to dreamwalk but when she turned eighteen she kind of found me.”

And going by the blush stealing across Nicole’s face, Sinn could guess that finding her wasn’t all they’d done.  That was the kind of blush reserved for inadvertently blowing things up when sharing power during sex.  “Found you, huh?  Mhmm, ’kay,” she smirked as Nicole grew even redder.  “Well, no expert but… I can’t dreamwalk and it wasn’t Waverly that turned up and saved me.  If I was you, I would be reassessing my thoughts on not being able to do it.”

“Sinn?”

Sinn hadn’t even been aware of closing them but she cracked her eyes back open at the edge to Nicole’s voice.  “Everything okay?”

“It’s just… if anyone asks could we say it was all down to you?  I mean, it could be anyway… right?”

“It could but, any particular reason for keeping it hush hush?”  Sinn sat up and frowned as Nicole stared off towards the corner of the room.  “Nicole?!”

“Oh… sorry.  Yeah, it’s just that I’m not sure who Waverly has told about what she can do and she likes to keep it private.  And, I don’t know, just feels like something we need to keep to ourselves.”

“Just a feeling, huh?”  Sinn wondered if Nicole’s feeling didn’t happen to be the result of a certain meddling Lao.  If it was, that meant that for some reason Baron didn’t want it getting back to Mikshun.  “Okay, I’m all for following those feelings so we’ll play it your way,” or Baron’s way, “and just say I somehow dragged you in.”

“Thanks,” Nicole rubbed her forehead and frowned in confusion at the shadowy corner.  “Wonder if Doc came with Waverly and Wynonna?  Keep telling him not to smoke in my house,” she muttered.

“If he isn’t it could be Eric, he sometimes lights a cigar when he’s stressing over stuff… I’ll make sure he knows to keep it outside.  Now, want to meet your new friend?  And by that I do mean your sword.”

“You mean the invisible sword you said only an Elf can hold?  That sword?”

“Actually, _smart ass_ , I believe I said that they can only be used by someone deserving.  Maybe in this case you’re deserving enough.  Or maybe there’s a little bit of Elf in your lineage too.”

“Why do you hate your dad so much?”

Sinn sighed.  “That’s… complicated.  Really I don’t hate him as such, just the idea of fathers.  My Mentor, the one you saw trying to drown me… well up until a year ago I thought he was my father.”

“Oh my god!  And he did those things to you?”

“Yep.  He beat me, trained me, tried to rape me… kind of put me off the whole idea of fathers,” she gave a bitter laugh.  “Then not long after he was finally out of my life I found out that I was probably a little bit Elf.  Which did not sit well as Fae and Elf abandoned the Vampires and everyone to their fate when they could have helped and were responsible for everything going on in the UK.  Finally… to add to all that, _he_ turned up.  If not for the way time plays out in their realm… well it all got screwed up, he left my mom, the woman he loved, and by the time he got back, she was dead and I was all grown up.  I’m not so much down on him really, we get on okay as long as no one mentions us being related and he doesn’t go all _better than everyone_ … all Elf.  I know I shouldn’t judge him on the others but… England was a shit storm of category five proportions because they thought Vampires were weakening their powers.”

“I can’t believe that was allowed to go on as long as it did.”

“Not all that long ago anyone could just pick up a weapon and murder a Vampire for no reason anywhere in the world just because they existed.  Now there’s only a handful that could get away with that legally and even less of us that would.”

“I’ve only met one Vampire in my life…”

“That you know of.”

“That I know of,” Nicole acknowledged.  “But having met Yoanna and yourself… and given that she’s currently downstairs with my girlfriend fixing food… I’m damn glad the law changed and that you’re both on the same side.”

“Me too,” Sinn chuckled.  “Now, weapon time.  Hold your hand out, the one you took the sword with.”

“Does it always have to be that hand?”  Not that she minded as it meant she still got to keep up that important feeling contact between them.  Assuming that Sinn wasn’t just yanking her chain it did seem like an important thing to clear up though.

“No always but it will just be easier with that hand as it’s got the memory right now,” she wiggled her fingers at Nicole, distracting her from asking anything else.  “Hand out.  The swords are out of… well, wherever the hell they were and are within us waiting to be called.  Now, close your eyes if you need to but… remember the way the sword felt in your hand.  The look of it.  The feel and shape of the hilt.  The weight of it.  Remember all of it, Nicole and hold on… bring it to you.”

“How- Oh…” Nicole’s confusion left on a breath of wonderment as she felt more than the memory.  Opening up her eyes she stared at the red and gold sword in her hand and the black one in Sinn’s.  “Wow!  Hey, if I dropped it or stopped thinking is it going to vanish?”

In reply, Sinn placed her sword down on the bed and then picked it back up.  “It will remain at your side or can be returned to where we just pulled them from until you no longer want it.  When that happens they can return all the way back to the start and have to be retrieved through the dreams.”

“Words that suddenly make me want to know why you don’t just keep the damn thing around instead of going through _that_ each time?”

“Erm, that’s on me again.  I never wanted them so when I’ve gotten done they’ve kind of just given me the sword version of a F.U. and vanished.”

“Will they get all offended if I point out that they’re beautiful but not exactly practical for everyday Police work?” Nicole whispered.

“Not like you have to carry it all the time,” Sinn chuckled.  “There are ways though if you want to carry it more.  On the back… though when I tried that the first I lost a couple of inches off my hair.  My… dad… one time after unfortunately binge watching all the Star Wars movies actually made his own turn into the medieval Elf sword version of a lightsabre.”  Focusing on her own sword, Sinn imagined it without its blade until she was holding just the hilt.  “The kids at the mansion thought it was amazing,” she rolled her eyes.

“I bet,” Nicole grinned.  “I take it, it didn’t impress his daughter though?”  Her grin grew wider as Sinn glowered at her.  As glowers went it was impressive and had more than likely resulted in a fair number of recipients pissing their pants, but she dealt with Wynonna on an almost daily basis and nothing could compare to displeasure from Waverly for intimidation.

“It’s not exactly subtle and carrying the hilt of a sword gets as many looks as the whole sword would.  Personally… I prefer to just use the back sheath or put it back where we just got it from.”

Nicole blinked in wonder as the black blade vanished from Sinn’s hand and then came back to her.  “So cool.  And you say no one else can use them?  How does that work?”

“Elf sword,” Sinn shrugged.  “Someone of blood or someone deserving can wield them.  If an enemy gets hold of it, it could shock or kill them or it will simply vanish… or, it could even pull the Excalibur sword in the stone trick until it found someone deserving.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at Sinn, trying to work out if the woman was messing with her on that last one.  She was too tired to work it out though and just ended up cracking a yawn.

“Come on, nap time before Yoanna comes up and tells us off.”

“Last question ‘cause I’d be more comfortable without a sword by my bed…”

“Breath in, just picture it no longer in your hand, picture it somewhere safe,” Sinn yawned herself but kept her eyes open long enough to see the sword in Nicole’s hand shimmer out of existence.  “Don’t worry, it will come back when you want it to.  Sleep now though.”  Tugging on Nicole’s hand she encouraged the redhead to lay down properly and let out a soft Ooof as Nicole promptly rolled on to her right side with their hands still clasped and yanked her into being the big spoon.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get back into this one... which is not an easy thing to do o.O
> 
> I'm gradually going through the chapters already posted in an effort to clean them up now that i use Grammarly thanks to a suggestion by Delayne a while back. For people with my lack of skills and beta it has been a godsend.
> 
> I also want to add a bit more Waverly to what went before but not sure how that will go as I was trying to minimise her because of Mictian. There isn't too much of this story left to go so hopefully my muses will strike. Right now though they are on strike thanks to the brilliance of Emily. GOD, i've missed that show!

The click of a camera and a soft chuckle broke into Nicole’s dreams and had her brow furrowing. She had been dreaming about not dreaming, her mind a blissful blanks canvas. There was no room for noises in a dream like that.

Cracking open her eyes, Nicole blinked sleepily, bringing the world back into focus as looked around the room. A strong sense of déjà vu niggling at her at the sight of a room she wasn’t used to sleeping in just brought with it more questions until she realised that she knew the wallpaper from her spare room.

The feel of an unfamiliar body against hers and a strong arm wrapped around her waist had a surge of panic racing through her like an electric shock until she recognised the soft voices deep in conversation somewhere behind her and what had happened started flooding back.

Sinn.

Yoanna.

Her journey through the nightmare landscape of Sinn’s past.

Making it out of it and talking with Sinn… which explained the déjà vu.

The sword that for some reason now belonged to her.

Flexing her hand, Nicole could almost feel the weight of it and the way it fit so perfectly in her hand but she didn’t dare dwell on it for too long in case she made it appear again. Or maybe there was a part of her that was more worried that it wouldn’t appear and it would all just turn out to be some kind of feverish dream within a dream type situation.

Spotting the shifting of Nicole’s body, Waverly made her way over and sat on the edge of the bed next to Nicole. She ran her hand over the warmth of her loves strong shoulder, delighting in the softness of the flesh beneath her touch as she caressed a path to her jaw and cheek. The lines of her face were softened with sleep, the brown eye barely cracked open pulling her into the honeyed softness.

“Hi, sweetie pie.”

Shifting her head, Nicole pressed her lips against Waverly’s palm in a sleepy approximation of a kiss. “Hi, cutie. Erm,” clearing her throat to remove some of the gravel she could hear in it, Nicole looked down to where her fingers were still linked with the one resting against her stomach. “This looks worse than it is.”

Chuckling gently, Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s forehead. “Don’t worry, Yoanna already explained while we made some food for you,” she gestured towards the bedside table where a tray of food was sitting. “Gotta warn you though, Wynonna has been snapping pictures and video since we got here.”

“Ugh!”

“Couldn’t help it, Red. You both look so adorable all spooned up and shit.”

Still trapped under the dead weight of Sinn’s arm and reluctant to let go of her hand, Nicole wiggled around until she was able to turn onto her back and shot Wynonna a glare that was deflected with a wink and another click from Wynonna’s phone as she bit down on a donut that was threatening to drip jelly all over the floor.

With every passing second, the tiredness lifted away and Nicole found that she felt surprisingly refreshed even though they had only been asleep for just over an hour. Sinn on the other had still seemed to be dead to the world.

“Is she okay?” Nicole asked as Yoanna leaned over to check on Sinn.

“Yes. It just caught up with her. If not for your help, Nicole I hate to think how it would have turned out.” She didn’t say it but there had been concern in her mind that Sinn might become trapped within the mire of her unfounded guilt from her past deeds. Despite the fact that she had been okay and lucid before they had settled down, it was a fear that lingered.

“I’m awake,” Sinn mumbled into the pillow her face was pressed against. “Did I hear food mentioned?”

“Told you they would be hungry,” Yoanna smiled at Waverly. “Pancakes, waffles, French toast and some delightful vegan bacon.”

“That shit tastes like ass and betrayal!” Wynonna grumbled around a mouthful of donut.

“There were donuts but apparently Wynonna needed them all to chase down the bacon.”

“Ass and betrayal!” Wynonna reminded them with a snort that expressed everything she thought about the situation. As Nicole and Sinn made their way through their food at a rate even she thought was pretty damn impressive, Wynonna kept a careful eye on all of them but mostly her sister.

Their life had been chaos, to say the least, but for what felt like the first time in ages there was a lightness within her as she sat, perched on the edge of the bed. In a way, it wasn’t unusual as Nicole just seemed to have that effect on her but even she had noticed that Waverly had been avoiding Nicole even more than she had the rest of them while using the lame excuse that she was protecting her.

Nicole was a Cop, a good one, top of her class… Of all of their misfit group, there was only Dolls that was more qualified to protect himself.

“So,” Wynonna drawled the word out. “Yoanna tells us that what you crazy kids were doing that ended in spooning. It worked but… Well, I can’t help but notice the lack of this weapon you were talking about?”

“Want to see what I’m packing, huh?” Sliding her legs off the edge of the bed, Sinn carefully pushed herself to her feet. She could still feel the lassitude weighting down her limbs but she actually felt better than she had expected.

“Erm…” Wynonna couldn’t help it, the teasing in Sinn’s voice made her back up a half step before she could stop herself and she wondered what she had let herself in for.

“Okay, I’ll show you what _my_ Elven weapon looks like.” Glancing around the room, Sinn gave a slight shake of her head to Nicole, begging her not to do anything right then. That she had a weapon of her own was something that wouldn’t remain secret for long but she didn’t want to risk it right then with Waverly there.

For the moment she was calm… she was herself. But Sinn had seen for herself how quickly Mictian could take over and if she grabbed it, it could well mean the end of Waverly.

Nicole nodded back, not sure what she was agreeing too but trusting that Sinn knew what she was doing. Feeling the reach of Waverly’s hand, Nicole entangled their fingers together and watched as Sinn positioned herself so everyone could get a look… or… where Sinn could see everyone clearly, she realised.

Holding out her hand, Sinn wrapped her fingers around the memory of the sword… her sword. The weight and feel of it became a reality that she swung around her body in a quickening dance that had a hum building as the finely honed blade cut through the air in a blur of motion.

“Best not touch,” Sinn stated as much for the thing trying to look with lust filled darkening eyes from Waverly as for Wynonna who was reaching out with fingers that twitched with the urge to touch. “Elven weapons can be nasty as hell and have been known to kill if anyone tries to take them.” That was what her father had expected to happen to here when they had first met and she’d managed to get her hands upon his sword. Luckily it had recognised who she was even if neither of them had known at the time and had just accepted her touch.

If Mictian made a grab, Sinn did not feel that her blade would be so forgiving if it found a demon holding it.

Whether because of her warning or Waverly exerting her own control, the darkness slid away unnoticed from Waverly’s eyes, leaving her looking confused and even a little distressed before Nicole’s touch and presence seemed to calm her.

If Mictian’s grip was lessened by Waverly’s love for Nicole that could be the weapon they used to free Waverly.

But it could also put a target on Nicole if Mictian hadn’t already realised just what strength their love gave her.

It galled Sinn no end to know she could do nothing to warn or help with Baron watching them but she couldn’t risk it until they had defeated the Jötnar and made sure that everyone was safe.

Once they had seen to the Jötnar though… She would take on the Lao himself to make sure Waverly was safe.

“Now you’ve got that,” Wynonna nodded to the sword. It was sweet an’ all but personally, she preferred to trust in Peacemaker… even if it wasn’t always trustworthy when it came to shooting straight. “What now?”

“Now, we need to find out just where the Jötnar are hiding out. Nicole, do you think you could get in touch with the Skinwalker elders and see if they would be willing to meet with us?”


	42. Chapter 42

Snow and ice crunched under the tyres of Nicole’s cruiser, the crack and pop of it sounding out like gunfire even over the sound of the powerful engine and the whine of the AC as it struggled to keep the temperature up to where her feet didn’t feel like they were turning into blocks of ice in her boots.

Getting as close as she dared with the snow getting deeper and deeper to the amalgamation of beaten up shacks that managed to make the Homestead look like a palace, Nicole parked up and turned off the engine.

Behind her, through the rapidly icing up window, she could see Dolls’ SUV and the one driven by Eric pulling up. At least if she got stuck they should be able to hook her up and tow her out.

“There’s no tracks.”

“What was that, Baby?” Nicole dragged her eyes away from what was happening at the rear of her car and looked at the bundle of fabric that Waverly was cocooned up in on the passenger seat.

Raising a gloved hand from between the folds of her jacket, Waverly gestured across the unbroken expanse of snow before them. “There are no tracks. No footprints or vehicles. Not even between the buildings. Do you think they’re okay?”

Nicole gave Waverly’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sure they are.” Or at least she hoped so… it had only been less than a day since they had gotten a call from Charlie telling them when to get there so they could meet with the Skinwalker elders. Surely something couldn’t have gone wrong in such a short amount of time?

Yeah, like that ever made a difference. One day you’re walking through a forest and the next plunging through a hole in the ground battling Jötnar. Or sitting watching an empty road and the next second pulling over a biker that had been riding down a road in Virginia just moments before.

Things had a way of getting out of control really fast when there was supernatural stuff at play that was for sure.

Nicole gave the building’s another look, a longer one as she searched every door and window for signs of life. But there were no lights. No twitch of curtains. No barking dogs. No sign of life at all.

“Wait here a min, Waves.”

With one more gentle squeeze of her fingers, Nicole alighted from her vehicle as she heard the steady, purposeful crunch of boots sinking and sticking in the snow. The metallic glow of green escaping around the edges of her dark glasses reflecting in the side mirror before she opened the door told her that the dark-clad figure was Sinn and not Wynonna.

“No one coming out to great us?”

“Nope, no sign of anyone yet. And Waverly spotted it first… But there are no tracks between the buildings.”

“Good eye,” Sinn murmured appreciatively. Like flexing a muscle, Sinn reached out with her powers in what turned out to be a futile effort to check the buildings for auras. She couldn’t see any but with how glitchy it was… she just wasn’t sure if that was because there was nothing to see or if she couldn’t reach. “Damn it!” she growled in frustration.

“So, any particular reason you dummies have decided to hold a meeting in the freezing cold?”

“Yeah, we had a bet going on how long it would take you to get nosey about what was going on and come over.” Sinn drawled.

“You better have not… But if you did… Which I don’t think you would have… You better know me well enough to have won that bet, Haught.”

Shaking her head in bemusement, Nicole couldn’t help but wonder if Wynonna had been at the cheap booze already or if she was just pulling what Nicole was convinced was her ‘oblivious’ act that she used to throw people off guard.

“Hey, guys!” Getting their attention, Waverly pointed through the window to the treeline to the right of the buildings. “I think I just saw someone that way!” Scrambling from the car, she trudged through the deep snow around the edge of the cruiser to join them along with all the others. Seeking out the heat and comfort, she slotted herself back into the curve of Nicole’s body and sighed softly as familiar arms wrapped around her.

The car might have been warmer, only just though, but being there in Nicole’s embrace made her soul feel light and burned away the darkness she felt trying to twist her thoughts and poison her feelings.

“Can you still see whoever it is, Babygirl?”

“No, they darted back out of sight.”

Drawing his six-shooters, Doc diligently checked them over more by feel than sight as he raked narrowed eyes over where young Waverly had seen someone watching them. Holstering one of his guns, he kept the other in hand and straightened his hat.

“I believe I shall work my way around and see if I can get a look at whomever it might be or, better still, intercept them so we might ask some questions.”

“Guys!” Waverly called out as Doc went in one direction and, with a nod to Sinn and Yoanna, Eric and Dolls went in the other. “It could have just been an elk!” she tried again.

In her heart, Waverly didn’t believe that even though she might have wanted them to just so they wouldn’t go off and split their group up. Really, that was ‘survive a horror movie 101’, _don’t split up!_ Along with, _don’t say you’ll be right back_ and _don’t have sex_. But she knew that she had seen something… someone, watching them and the even more guarded way that Nicole, Wynonna, Sinn and Yoanna looked around them said that they believed she had.

Guns were drawn and made ready with a quiet assuredness that Waverly found oddly settling. Even Wynonna reigned in her usual quips and theatrics as though she could sense the gravity of the situation. And there was a weight to it as they looked at the snowbound buildings.

Buildings that should have been bustling with life from the people that lived there.

The Skinwalkers that called that slice of the Ghost River Triangle home were reserved and kept themselves separate from the people of Purgatory. Not that the Purgatorian’s ever reached out to the much as they were too scared and too busy living in a world of self-denial about the demons that lived among them to reach out to ones that had decided to live apart from them.

It left the Skinwalkers vulnerable and Waverly reared that that might have led to trouble. _To their rightful extinction at the hands of their betters._

Waverly pressed closer to Nicole’s body, her fingers clutching at the back of her jacket. Her breathing hitching as she swallowed down the nausea from the malevolent thought sliding its way through her thoughts like a sleek predator creating a ripple in the surface of her mind just before it attacked.

The warmth and strength of Nicole’s body and the soft lulling of her voice pushed the darkness aside and allowed the light back. A light that was bright and green, sweeping through the corners of her mind to soothe as her eyes met Sinn’s.

Waverly wasn’t sure what Sinn saw when she looked at her but after a few frantic beats of her heart, the other woman gave her a small smile and a softer look that Waverly found reassuring.

From what she had heard and could make out, Sinn was willing to play fast and loose with her own safety even more than Wynonna was but when it came to those around her she disliked risks with a passion.

There were times since Willa had died… when Wynonna had been forced to kill her rather than see her torn apart… when Waverly wasn’t sure if she trusted her own thoughts with how dark and twisted they had become. And with the lapses in memory. But if Sinn was willing to let her stand at hers and Yoanna’s back and not just send her to sit in the truck, Waverly was going to take that.

“So. Plan of attack?”

“We’re here at their invitation so how about we just walk up and see what’s going on?”

“Well, that seems very boring and vanilla, Haughtsause.”

Nicole rolled her eyes at Wynonna’s huff. “Maybe but I think throwing yourself through the nearest window with guns blazing is a little extreme when we’ve been standing here in plain sight for so long.”

“Fine,” Wynonna pouted just a little as she started walking across the pristine blanket of snow with the others, their feet cracking and sinking through the thin layer of ice on the top of it. “One of these days though I’m going to get to burst in through a window to kick ass and then you can bet I’m going to be ready with a witty quip.”

“You’re telling me you actually plan some of the things that come out of your mouth?” Nicole smirked. “Okay, so the day comes and you fly in through a window… hopefully without Doc and Dolls’ tossing you headfirst for a change… what’s your quip?”

“Well… I don’t know! Guess it depends on what they are. Always wanted to tell some big bad to eat a dick though.”

“A dick?”

“Yeah. A dick. I know you’re a lesbian but I’m sure you must have heard of them.”

“I am aware of them as a concept.” Shooting Waverly a ‘save me’ glance, Nicole hurried towards the door of what she took to be the main building. There was little to set it apart from all the others but it was more centrally located and just a scootch bigger.

While Nicole played it by the book and knocked on the door, Sinn kept a careful eye on the tree line. That the Skinwalkers elders chose to live so close to them was no surprise. It had that same feel to it that the forest she had first seen, that looming, menacing feel that felt like ice coating the marrow of her bones.

“Sinn?”

Keeping the trees in sight, Sinn slowly stepped back. It felt like if she broke eye contact it would be the end of them.

“Sinn,” Waverly felt the tenseness running through Sinn’s body as she dared to reach out and touch her shoulder. A statue carved from marble would have had more warmth and life beneath her hand. “Are you okay?”

“It’s spreading. Getting stronger.” Shifting her gun to her other hand, Sinn willed her sword into her hand as far away from Waverly as possible.

Sinn wasn’t sure if there was anything in the forest watching them or just the feelings she was picking up on, but she felt a release of the feelings as though something had stepped back at the sight of her sword. Or maybe her sword had comforted her with its presence.

Feeling the glide of a hand running from her shoulder and down her arm, Sinn quickly stilled Waverly’s touch before she could get to close to touching the sword.

“Don’t.” Sinn expected to see Waverly’s eyes gone over to the darkness that was Mictian but while he eyes looked almost mesmerised, no, more fascinated, they were still their usual hazel.

“I’m sorry… I swear I wasn’t going to touch it,” Waverly flustered nervously as she found herself under the scrutiny of both Sinn and Yoanna’s metallic gaze. She could see no threat or anger in them but after watching them in action she was all too aware that if things turned nasty, she was no match for either of them.

_No match for any of them. Just a weak and useless little girl playing in the shadow of her sister!_

“What is it you feel from my Sinn’s weapon, Waverly?”

The soft lilt of Yoanna’s voice forced Waverly to listen past the malevolent whisper trying to take hold of her.

“Tell us, please?”

“It- it feels… good, cleansing.” Waverly held her hand out to it, the tips of her fingers brushing against _something,_ a tingle of energy that lay inches above the weapon. Something that promised peace and gave it to her in a quieting of her mind.

“There is an ancient and powerful magic forged into Elven weapons. It is what makes them so prised and also so temperamental at time… much like the ones that wield them,” Yoanna winked at Waverly, delighting at her light chuckle as Sinn pouted at them. “It feeling good to you, offering comfort, I would take as a good sign… but…”

“I know,” Waverly smiled slightly at the gentle rebuke wrapped in a thick, comforting layer of protection for her. “Look but don’t touch.”

“For now at least. It is obvious that you mean so much to so many, ourselves included and we would hate for you to be hurt in any way.” Yoanna had to admit that Waverly’s reaction intrigued her but wanting to pick at and unravel what was going on was not worth the risk to Waverly’s life.

Waverly ducked her head shyly, heat rising through her cheeks at the vampire’s soft, reassuring words.

“Waves, do you know how to pick locks? Nicole is useless and she’s being all annoyingly ‘good cop’ and won’t let me kick the door in. Seriously, what’s the use of this damn badge if I can’t just break in wherever I want?”

Rolling her eyes at her sister, Waverly brushed past her, crouched down and had the lock picked within seconds. “There. No need to kick down any doors.”

As Waverly gliding back to her feet, Nicole leaned in closer, breathing against the sensitive shell of her ear. “Not gonna lie Waves, that was kind of sexy… and slightly troubling… but mostly sexy.”

“Yep, seriously impressive skills there, sis.” Nudging the couple out of the way, Wynonna grasped the door handle and opened the place up before they could think of getting all smoochy and start making out. “I don’t think we needed to bother though.”

Nicole lifted her head, her instincts kicking up a notch at the strange tone of Wynonna’s almost whispered words. “Earp?” She moved a step closer to the open door, her eyes widening in horror and disbelief as she got a look over Wynonna’s shoulder at the room beyond.

The building had looked whole from the front, slightly dilapidated but whole. The reality was far different as there was a massive hole carved into the roof and back of it as though a giant fist had crashed down and scooped it out.

Which it more than likely had going by the giant footprints she could see leading in a straight line from the hole back to the forest beyond with more leading to some of the other buildings.

There was no blood to be seen anywhere. Which, given the level of damage to the building and the interior, was a miracle.

“No!” With a hand on Wynonna’s shoulder, Nicole gently restrained her before she could go in any further.

“Haught?!”

“The building isn’t safe, Earp.” Not that there was much of the building actually left but they really didn’t need the rest coming down on their heads. “We need to call this in and get help up here to secure the buildings and look for survivors.”

“We need to get out of here.”

“What?” Wynonna rounded on Sinn angrily. “There could be people trapped in there!”

“If there was blood around, Yoanna would have been able to smell it. Hell, we all would have. This,” Sinn gestured with a sweep of her arm. “This is a trap designed to lure more in.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Forest all around but the attack came all from the same side and in such a way that everything would look perfectly fine from the road.”

“So, they’re waiting for us?”

“Maybe… or they could just be waiting until there are as many people around as possible.”

“Similar to a tactic long used in battle,” Eric growled as he trudged through the snow towards them. “Sniper takes out a man in the open, just wounds them so they can scream for help.”

“And when anyone tries to help…”

“Yep, they get a bullet too. It’s a terrible thing, hearing someone you come to trust with your life screaming for help, hearing them dying slowly as the sniper takes pot-shots to hurt them more. You know you shouldn’t leave cover but it’s a friend.”

“You’ve seen that happen?” Wynonna wanted to take the words back at Eric’s pained expression but the question had been dragged from her.

“Yeah, a couple of times. First one we lost three more that kept trying to help. Second… fire cover from the air was out of the question so I- I put a bullet in my friend to save the others. We got out and returned for his body when it was safe. It was the right thing to do… the only thing to do.”

Clearing his throat, Eric pushed back the memory of the pain. He didn’t need or want pity, and wallowing was not an option when he had Yoanna and Sinn to protect. “Sinn is right… this place stinks of a trap just like those other times.”

“Okay, I’ all for avoiding a trap.” It would make a change from her usual blunder in regardless style. “Did you and the boys have any luck finding our peeping Tom, Dick or Harry?”

“They got away, tracks went from two feet to four paws so unless there is a Werewolf around you don’t know about, at least one of the Skinwalkers survived. I’m afraid that I’m not up on them to know how their beasts compare to Werewolves, but the footprints were light, maybe a teen or a petite adult. We lost the tracks half a mile after they shifted. Doc and Dolls are still looking around to see if they can pick them up again. They are more than capable trackers but my duty lies here.”

And after seeing the backs of the building and the damage wrought to them, returning was a decision he would stick by.

“Waves, do you think it could have been Charlie?” Nicole asked hopefully.

Waverly’s brow furrowed as she wracked her mind. She really wanted to give her love the confirmation she so obviously wanted but… “It could have been, yeah. I can’t be sure though Nic, I only caught a glimpse.”

“This place is used largely by the elders. Charlie’s family live closer to town, most of them do. There’s no service up here… not much of anything really. Charlie could have been here to check on the elders or on his way in and saw what went down and got spooked.”

“Nicole, the Skinwalkers… do they all live on the edges of Purgatory?”

Nicole hadn’t thought it was possible for her already on edge nerves to get any more alert but Sinn’s question had them almost at breaking point. “Pretty much, yeah. What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that if this was just to get to them… there are a lot of vulnerable families out there right now in Purgatory, Skinwalkers and everyone else, that won’t know what’s coming.”

“Lord! I hope you’re wrong!”

“So do I,” Sinn sighed. They had to cover as many possibilities as they could do.

Wynonna hated to leave Doc and Dolls out there in the woods, especially with Dolls’ phobia but they couldn’t afford to wait for them to come back. Taking only a second to check the lack of service on her phone, she scrawled a hasty note for them and left it on the dash where they could find it. Dashing towards the vehicles, she called shotgun and leaping into the SUV next to Eric.

“What? I rode in the back of squad cars enough when I was a kid… not doing it today.” That and she couldn’t think of anything worse than having to wait to be let out of the back seat like a naughty kid before springing into Earp Heir action mode to send some douche-canoe to hell!

Rolling her eyes at the glee in Wynonna’s face, Nicole climbed into her cruiser and cranked up the heat for both of them but mostly for Waverly as soon as the car started. Her breath hissed out in relief as her cruiser proved to be up to the task and didn’t end up trapped in the snow and ice as she followed the SUV back through the almost oppressive wall of trees arching over the warn track towards the main road that led to Purgatory.

She edged past the SUV, taking the lead so she could guide them where they needed to go. Her foot came down heavier on the accelerator at the sight of thick black smoke billowing up into the snow laded sky ahead of them.

“Shit!” It was the house that Charlie shared with his parents, she knew it even though there were several miles to go.

Eric’s story weighed heavily on her mind but Nicole snatched up her radio and called it in. Even with the risk of it being a trap, she couldn’t not do something! Nicole made sure that the Sheriff understood her warning that there might be a ‘situation’… Which had become the code around the station for ‘some kind of shit best left to Wynonna’.

“I’ll make sure everyone hangs back until they hear from you. Be careful out there!”

With the comforting presence of the SUV looming in the mirrors, Nicole pushed her cruiser harder, willing more speed out of it until they hit the turning part of her had hoped wouldn’t lead towards the smoke.

The house that Charlie called home was small and even more weather-beaten and ransacked than the Earp homestead had been before Waverly and Wynonna, but mostly Waverly had started bringing it back to life one decorative pillow at a time. It was less isolated than the homestead but people tended to keep to themselves in Purgatory as a way to avoid facing the fact that demons lived among them.

Right then though there were people standing around but they were doing nothing to even attempt to put out the flames. In fact, Nicole realised as they got closer, any of them were laughing.

“Shit-tickets! Nicole, I know them from my research for Black Badge! They’re Revenants!”

As the cruiser slid to a halt, Waverly grabbed the police issue shotgun from its holder between the seats and pumped a round ready to go.

Nicole wasn’t sure if she would have been able to stop Waverly if she wanted to but everything was happening so fast she barely had chance to take in the fact that at the feet of the Revenants were two bodies before Waverly leapt from the cruiser, firing a shot into the air on the way before the SUV sped by at full speed, it’s made for purpose frame sending up a plume of snow and ice as it raced through the deeper snow straight towards the startled Revenants with Wynonna leaning out of the window.

More gunfire, a distant pop popping sound barely heard over the throaty boom of the shotgun and Peacemaker drew Nicole’s eyes further out and had her changing direction towards the frantic figure of Charlie racing across the field with four Revenants about to cut him off and Doc and Dolls too far away to help.

Her feet sank into the snow, making her stumble and slowing her progress but Nicole forged on, letting loose with a volley of gunfire to try and slow the Revenants.

Charlie reached her, his breathing ragged and frantic as he clutched at her jacket and sheltered behind her with a whimper.

“Purgatory Sheriff’s Department! Back off and walk away boys!”

Nicole could see Doc and Dolls pushing themselves harder but the Revenants, their eyes burning with hellfire started to encircle them despite the threat of her weapon. But then, what threat was that really when no matter where she hit, they would get up again?

That didn’t mean she couldn’t make it painful for them though which she proved by shooting one getting too close right in the kneecap.

“Bitch!”

“You can’t kill us!”

“No… but I can delay you enough for help to get here!” she hoped. “The two gentlemen heading this way… one of those is Doc Holliday… I believe you all know him? Fastest gun in the west, Wyatt Earp’s best friend and a ridiculous moustache. And you hear that?” The throaty roar of Peacemaker rang out and Nicole saw the glimmer of fire dance in one of the Revenant’s eyes as another was sent screaming back to hell. “That’s the Earp heir getting ready to send you boys after your friend. And trust me, if you think she’s bad you don’t want to get on her sisters’ bad side!”

“Officer Haught, I hope you weren’t going to leave us out of the introductions?”

Nicole felt her heart soar as Yoanna stepped into her line of vision. She was so petite and delicate, her golden hair and colouring making her look deceptively innocent… until she smiled and flashed a little bit of fang and let her eyes glow with the full brilliance of their otherworldly metallic sheen.

To her other side, Nicole was relieved to see Sinn. There was just no mistaking the danger she posed. It was writ in every line of her body, every deliberate move as she stalked forwards and balanced herself on the slippery terrain that just screamed that taking her on was going to end in pain. And then she fixed them with the metallic green of her eyes and summoned her sword.

Nicole wasn’t sure which scared the Revenants more but they all looked like they were about to piss their pants.

“Boys, meet Yoanna and Sinn.” Even their names seemed to cause a further ripple of fear that had them stepping back.

“It looks like your reputation has reached even this far, my Sinn.”

“Good, I hate having to talk about myself.”

“You shouldn’t be here!”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I should have been enjoying some time off but plans change… and I do so hate when my plans get screwed up! So, gonna explain why you assholes are doing this before I add to my tally and kick you assholes back to hell? No? Okay!”

Nicole sheltered Charlie, drawing him away to stand with Waverly as she joined them and kept them both protected from the fight that broke out. No, it couldn’t even be classed as a fight as the Revenants, despite having the better numbers, were so obviously outclassed by the skills Sinn and Yoanna had honed to perfection.

They flowed around every attempted strike, making their opponents look like they were moving in slow motion even when Nicole recognised the signs that their powers had slipped.

Despite her promise to send them to hell, every one of the Revenants was left for Wynonna to deal with in the end until there was just one left cowering on his knees before her.

“The curse belongs to the Earp’s,” Sinn whispered in explanation as she stepped back to join Nicole and Waverly. “I would take it on and send them back for her, but if I do… it could just make it all the worse for Wynonna and everyone.”

“Come on then, you little shit stain!” She pressed the glowing barrel of Peacemaker against the Revenant’s face, making him squirm and cry out in pain as its cleansing powers burned his flesh. “Confession is good for the soul… if you even have one left. Why did you do this?”

“Something bigger than your curse is coming, Wynonna!”

“The Jötnar? End of the earth… weather only a polar bear or Canadian could love all over the world? Yeah, we got that memo. Doesn’t explain why you attacked the Skinwalkers.”

“Just keeping you busy and helping out our new Masters.”

Wynonna stepped back, taking careful aim between his hellfire burning eyes as he let out a laugh that echoed with the laughter of others straight from the pits of hell. There was no joy in her as her finger squeezed the trigger, a bullet right between his eyes opening up a pit of fire that dragged him back where he belonged.

Seventy-seven revenants to kill to break the curse… sometimes she wondered if there would be any of her own soul left by the end of it.

She had to though. If not her it would only fall to Waverly if she faltered and fell and she had let her baby sister down too much already.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mictian wants to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 3 starting.  
> Amazing SDCC content.  
> SEASON 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> And then Dom's truth or dare question to Kat... yep, it's an AMAZING time to be an Earper <3

Before Nicole could even register that something had disturbed her sleep, she reached across the bed, her hand searching instinctively for a connection with Waverly.

They always touched in one way or another as often as they could but while they slept it was an urge they had no need to resist. If not completely wrapped up in each other their hands would find a way to connect in a touch of fingers laid against waist or hip or simply just holding the others. Sometime their touch would just be of their feet… though as Nicole liked to stretch out and hang her feet off the edge in contrast to Waverly who usually lay ore neatly, it was usually Waverly’s feet that would hook around her calf.

Right at that moment though… there was nothing for her searching hand to find and the frown _that_ brought between Nicole’s brows was what had her lifting her head to blink through the darkness at the empty place in the bed beside her where Waverly should have been.

“Wave?” A further scan of the room had Nicole relaxing somewhat as she found the familiar moonlit outline of Waverly standing at the bottom of the bed. Sitting up, the covers pooling down at her waist as she moved, Nicole ran a hand through her hair, pushing the tangle of wayward bed-head strands back off her forehead. “Hey, you okay, Baby?”

“Just restless. Can’t quite shut my mind off tonight.”

“Thinkin’ about Charlie?”

“Yeah. Poor kid, lost his family, his home… It was just all so senseless. Listen to me going on,” Waverly gave herself a little shake and pulled herself up by the mental bootstraps. Taking in Nicole’s exhausted expression, Waverly smiled in soft apology for waking her.

She looked like she was about to faceplant back into her pillow at any moment and yet Waverly knew Nicole would force herself to stay awake while she sorted through what was twisting around in her mind. “You… need to get some sleep.”

“I’m… okay,” a statement that Nicole knew would have been more convincing if it hadn’t been broken up by the sudden, jaw-cracking yawn that had exploded from her mouth.

“No. I’m going to go down and fix a drink and you… Nicole Haught… are going to lay back down and close those beautiful eyes.”

“Ya know I don’ sleep good w’out ya.” Nicole let the warmth of Waverly’s body, close enough that their hips brushed as she sat on the edge of the bed, soothe her.

Waverly smiled softly and pulled the covers back up around Nicole as she sleepily rolled towards her to curl around her body. Her baby had been busy for hours filling in paperwork and making call after call in an effort to find and get in touch with Charlie’s relatives who lived further out west after they had saved Charlie.

It had left deep lines of exhaustion and concern etched into Nicole’s beautiful face that Waverly gently stroked away with gentle caressed of her fingers. “I won’t be long and then I’ll be right back making use of my bonus blanket.”

“Pr’mise?”

“Pinkie swear.” Waverly hooked her little finger with the one curled loosely on the pillow next to Nicole’s head. She pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Nicole’s mouth, feeling it curve into a lopsided smile. “Sleep,” she ordered softly.

Waverly waited until she heard Nicole’s breathing even out and saw her body growing lax as she allowed the mattress beneath her to cradle her body. Nicole’s little finger though, that curled around their pinkie promise as Waverly tried to draw back, her elegant fingers sliding and caressing against hers one last time before even they relaxed and Waverly was finally able to move from the edge of the bed before she gave in to the temptation to just climb back under the covers with Nicole.

She stood there for a moment, wrestling with that desire as she gazed down at Nicole before turning away dismissively and gazing at its reflection in the mirror. Smirking, Mikshun ran its hands down Waverly’s sides, smoothing out the creases in the little slip of a nightdress its vessel had chosen to wear to bed that night.

The silly girl did like to entice her mate.

Mikshun knew needs and desires but that one that humans seemed to have made no sense to them. They had no need to procreate in such a fashion and they had no desire to do so… That didn’t mean they weren’t above using their ‘hosts’ desires and connections as a way to become more.

To become legion.

Its current host's mate though was resistant with a wall of pure goodness around her that made it impossible to breach when it was already fighting so hard to control the little slip of a girl they were already in.

 _‘She will be ours one day, Waverly Earp.’_ Mikshun closed its borrowed eyes and focused on maintaining control as the girl tried to wrestle it back from them. _‘Not tonight though. Tonight we have other needs and then we will let you return here… if you cooperate.’_

With control once more belonging to them, Mikshun left the bedroom. A glance to the side showed that the lights in the bedroom the Vampire and the Hunter shared were off and all was quiet. Not that Mikshun let that fool them. While they had had no dealings with creatures such as their kind; they were too unpalatable and strong even if they were filled with delicious darkness, Mikshun knew enough just from observing them to know that their senses were superior.

Just the slightest creak or a whisper of noise was enough to attract their attention.

It was admirable even if it did make dealing with them _tricky_.

Mikshun cursed its host as Waverly led their first step astray, causing the stair to give a barely audible creak. One that they both knew would draw attention from the person in the kitchen. Summoning all its strength, Mikshun pushed Waverly down, burying her deep so they could do what they needed to.

“Are you okay, Waverly… Ah… not Waverly.” Her smile of greeting dropping away, Sinn leaned back in the dining room chair, her fist clenching out of sight beneath the edge of the table as she looked at the black-eyed creature looking at her from Waverly’s body, standing across the room.

“What do you want, Mikshun?”

“Just a word with you, Hunter.”

“How about you hop on out of Waverly and I’ll be happy to give you a word?” Sinn growled in frustration. It was galling to watch that thing using Waverly! The way it moved and spoke… so much like the young girl and yet, now she knew the difference, it was so gratingly not her.

“You know we can’t do that,” Mikshun tsked.

“We, huh?” Sinn filed that away to ponder on later. Either Mikshun had no sense of gender or it meant Mikshun was part of something larger. “Well, if you’re not coming out I don’t see what we have to talk about.” Waving a hand dismissively, Sinn pretended to go back to studying the map she had spread out on the table before her.

Pursing borrowed lips, Mikshun moved closer, drawn by the woman and the power within her despite itself. They pulled out a chair opposite the Hunter out of striking range and arranged its body into it. “We want to understand.”

Leaning back again, wanting distance between herself and Mikshun, Sinn tapped on the edge of the table with restless fingers. “Understand what?”

“Why do you fight against the Jötnar? Their winning is inevitable. Would it not be easier to give in and serve them how those Revenants were willing to?”

Sinn wished more than anything right then that Yoanna was down there with her. Yoanna would have known what to say and probably would have sweet-talked Mikshun into giving them Waverly back in seconds whereas she preferred a more direct method of communicating with involved fists and weapons.

For whatever reason though, Mikshun had sought her out inside of taking the shorter path the bedroom where Yoanna lay.

“We fight because it’s the right thing to do, Mikshun. Mostly though we fight to survive. To endure. We fight for the people we love, the innocents, the people that can’t fight for themselves and for the futures of everything.”

“Everything? You would fight for me?” Mikshun queried sibilantly.

“You’re hurting my friend so that would be a no. You would just, unfortunately, get lucky while we’re saving everyone else.”

“We do not need help!”

“No? Tell me, Mikshun… where do your plans end?”

“We do no—”

“The Jötnar want to send the whole planet back to the ice age… wipe it clear until there’s just them. You… whatever you are… are you just after a corner of the planet to live out your idea of the American dream? A white picket fence and all that jazz? Do you want to coexist or do you want everything for yourselves too?”

“Everything,” Mikshun stated as though it was obvious… because… well, it was obvious.

“Well now, that makes two lots of demons that want everything all for themselves. How do you feel about the cold, Mikshun? Can you spread or do whatever it is you do when we’re all dead and there’s no one to control?”

Mikshun sat back in the chair, contemplating the Hunter’s words. They did usually prefer warmer climates. The cold there was already at the point where it was slowing them down and without the host’s bodies to protect them it would be all but impossible.

“We could fuse with them, take the creatures over…”

“Oh hell no!” Slamming a fist on the table, Sinn brought forth her sword. “Before you go getting any ideas on fusing to _anyone_ let me just tell you how it is going to go down. Right now, we are trapped here until we stop the Jötnar. And while there is a chance that Waverly will be rid of you without my help, I am resisting the temptation to ram this sword down your throat!” Sinn hissed. “If I stay trapped here because you got in my way… if you fuse with Jötnar or Waverly… So help me I will spend the rest of my days showing you what hell is like!”

Mikshun blinked in shock as they felt the untamed fury of the Hunter’s power physical pushing her across the room with a squeal of wood against tiles as the chair beneath them slid across the floor.

Sinn felt a shift in the air at her back, a stillness trying to take her over. She was ready this time though! Hand swinging back, she let the edge of her blade hover a hairsbreadth from Baron Samedi’s throat without even looking.

“Don’t fucking move,” Sinn growled.

“A Lao?”

“That’s enough from you.”

Sinn darted forward as Baron waved a careless hand and Waverly slumped like a puppet with its strings cut and toppled off the chair. Catching Waverly before her head hit the unforgiving floor tiles, she gently laid her down before confronting the Lao with her sword grasped firmly in hand.

All around her, Sinn could see the effects of his power stretching time in the swirl of steam from the coffee she had been drinking… the drop of water caught mid-drip from the tap and the map caught in mid-air above the table.

She could feel the press of his power trying to control her just has had Mikshun, and no doubt the rest of the house and occupants but she could feel her sword cutting through it, protecting her from its effects.

Sinn could also see the flicker of fear in his dark eyes the moment he realized.

“There is no need for weapons to be drawn, Sinn,” he lulled.

“You could remove that thing from Waverly!” It was a statement of face, clean as anything to here as she looked at him.

“I could but I have already explained that what happens needs to play out.”

“Yeah, yeah! For some reason, you need our help with the Jötnar but with this, I have to just stand by and do nothing!?” Anger and frustration overruling her good sense, Sinn advanced on him, wading through the effects of his power. Her eyes blazed to the point that seeing anything but the glow of them in the room and the pounding of blood in her head was an effort. “You’re a Lao… if you’re so concerned then just stop all this!” It wasn’t as though their free will was an issue for him as he had already interfered.

“I can’t!”

“Can’t not won’t? Explain.”

“I deal with the dead but I can also see every action and their consequences…”

“Yeah, kind of got that,” Sinn waved her sword in an extension of the dismissive gesture she was making with her arm. “What I want to know is why you can’t stop this?”

“I have grown fond of this place and the people in it. It cannot survive two threats like this. You and Yoanna are the best to deal with the Jötnar but if you interfere with Mikshun it will become a threat that you cannot contain.”

He could tell by the quirk of a dark brow that his answer still wasn’t satisfying her.

“I have been granted permission to do only so much, not to take care of the Jötnar or Mikshun myself. I looked over every possible scenario, Sinn and this gives the best outcome but I knew that Mikshun would not be able to resist the lure of your power which was why I was hoping that you would listen to reason.”

“Reason I can do, threats I don’t! Thought your little _scenarios_ would have told you that.”

“Yes, well… you are unexpectedly stubborn but all is not lost yet. I can’t remove Mikshun but I can cloud its memory of my being here just as I can everything else.”

“Don’t you dare try putting a whammy on me!” Sinn growled out.

“Truthfully, I am not sure I could and you would probably just reset to being a pain in my ass if I did. You understand now though why you cannot interfere?”

“And what’s to stop Mikshun from interfering with me or Yoanna? By all means, wipe their memory of you but leave the rest to me.”

“You?”

“Yes, I’m going to reason with them.”

“You?”

Sinn pursed her lips and swished her sword like an angry cat twitching its tail at his sarcastic tone but with a Cheshire cat smirk that lingered in the air, the Lau vanished from sight.

She didn’t trust him an inch but she knew that with his powers she needed to work with the rope he was giving her before she ended up being hung between a god, the Jötnar, and Mikshun.

And, speaking of…

Sinn looked down as Waverly stirred and opened her eyes. “Still not Waverly,” she noted with a sigh as black eyes looked back at her and looked around the room in confusion.

“You tried to separate me from this body?”

“No. And I’ve got a proposition for you about that.” One she really didn’t want to make.

Eying the Hunter up cautiously, Mikshun pulled the chair back to the table and sat back down. “Oh?”

“Yes. Give Waverly back control of her mind,” she held a hand up before Mikshun could protest or threaten her. “As much as it galls me to leave you inside her… She is strong and we are dealing with a bigger threat right now. A threat I want her at my back helping us with and not you. Give her back full control until the Jötnar are dead.”

“Why should we?”

“I don’t trust you Mikshun, not in a situation like that and if I feel that everything is going south because of you I will deal with the problem no matter how much I like Waverly. Do I make myself clear? And, like I said, she’s strong… how long have you been in her and you still haven’t got full control?”

“Yes, we will admit. She is proving to be stronger than we anticipated. We will think about your offer…”

“No, you will take me up on it right now, Mikshun. Die now or live to fight another day.” An empty threat but Mikshun didn’t have to know that.

“Fine, we will not interfere while you deal with the Jötnar!”  Really, it was a good offer. If they were up to the task the Jötnar would be dealt with and they would still get everything they wanted too.

As Sinn watched, the malevolent darkness left and returned to the normal hazel of Waverly’s eyes. Sinn found it galling to know that she would have to trust the word of Mikshun and the Lao but that was the hand she had been dealt for the moment.

Waverly blinked slightly in confusion. There was that disconnect again. The memory of what she had last seen; Nicole lying in bed, not matching up with what was right in front of her. The moments were getting longer and scarier… The itching in her brain of thousands of fingers prying at her mind and whispering terrible things that made her question her sanity.

“You dropped off for a bit then,” Sinn smiled softly in an effort to ease Waverly’s mind. “Would you like a drink or are you heading back to bed?”

“I- erm, I came down for a drink… must have sleepwalked my way down though. Sinn, is there a problem?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got your sword out?” Waverly eyed it with nervous fascination and tucked her hands under her thighs to stop herself from reaching for it.

“No, no problem. I just keep checking it is still there. Nervous tick I guess. You should see how often I check the door is locked when we leave the house.”

Sinn’s laugh was light and reassuring but Waverly didn’t quite believe her. She wanted to though so she let it work rather than wonder what had happened that Sinn felt the need to draw it… Had there been something in the room or had she been the threat?

Straightening the map on the table, Sinn placed the sword upon it and released it with her mind. That should have been enough to make it shimmer out of existence but it stayed there looking like a very menacing paperweight… whose presence Waverly seemed to find comfort in.

“What would you like to drink?” Sinn asked as she put the kettle on.

The Earp side of her and her nerves had he considering a stiff shot of whiskey but her taste buds and the need to sleep without the possibility of clouding her mind had her craving a safer option. “Hot chocolate, please.”

“Mmm, a good choice… and one that deserves being made properly.”

Waverly smiled, her nose twitching in pleasure when Sinn placed a steaming mug of chocolate in front of her. The subtle scent of the coconut milk blended with it perfectly and had her murmuring in pleasure even before the first taste.

“Oh, lord! This is amazing!”

“All thanks to Yoanna. I’ve kind of got the reputation and ability to burn coffee,” Sinn explained. “But she’s taken me under her sexy little apron strings and taught me a few things… Out of self-preservation.”

“I’m sure you weren’t that bad…”

“Oh, but she really was.”

Waverly couldn’t help the small jolt that ran through her as the Vampire glided almost silently into the kitchen and settled into the seat beside her with the grace of a jungle cat and picked up the mug of chocolate that Sinn placed in front of her. Waverly had assumed that the second mug had been for Sinn but it was obvious that she had somehow known that Yoanna was on her way down as she sat down and picked up the coffee that was still there.

Waverly still found the Vampire a little unnerving at times and yet there was a peace to being around her… especially when she was with Sinn. When they were together it smoothed the jagged edges on Sinn and made Yoanna seem more… approachable.

“No marshmallows?”

Waverly chuckled as Sinn’s eyebrow climbed as Yoanna looked into her mug and pouted. “I’ve got this…” Getting up she opened up a drawer and reached way into the back for her carefully hidden package of vegan marshmallows. “Don’t tell Nicole though, she stuffs them all in her mouth like a chipmunk given half a chance.”

Purring in satisfaction, Yoanna smirked around the edge of her mug at Sinn as the little pillows of white bobbed around in her mug.

“You are such a kid,” Sinn chuckled as Yoanna scooped one out with her tongue just to tease her.

“How’s the search going?” Yoanna nodded at the map laid before them.

“What Charlie said he heard gives us a pretty wide area to check still but it’s a definite improvement over thousands of square miles. It’s nowhere near to where the elders were killed though so either they moved or they traveled a hell of a way just to kill them.”

“Why would they kill them though?”

“Could be that the Revenants heard we were going to go speak to them and tipped them off somehow. Or maybe the Skinwalkers being more nature-based with their shape-shifting was a threat to them.”

“So the rest could be in danger?”

“Your Sheriff has arranged protection for them as best he can…”

“Not sure that would fill me with confidence when the best part of the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department is asleep upstairs,” Waverly sighed.

“We know,” Yoanna quietly assured her. “It’s the best they can do for now though and Eric and Agent Dolls are helping them until they are needed. Is there any news on when Charlie’s relative will be able to take him in?”

“Nicole said they were on their way… with the weather though…”

“That is a problem but when it is dealt with he will have a home to go to with people that are family.”

Waverly smiled sadly at the thought. When he mama had left and her daddy died, she had been young enough that she had been able to adjust to living with her aunt and uncle. Even then though it had been a long adjustment before she had realized that her parents were never coming home again.

Charlie was older, almost an adult that had seen his parents and many people that he knew slaughtered for no reason. Waverly couldn’t see any situation where adjusting would be easy. Nicole had said that his relative a woman named Lexa Woods had sounded okay though. Soft-spoken but very sure of herself in a way that made her seem older than her years, was how Nicole had described her when she had got home.

Unless they managed to find and defeat the Jötnar, Charlie having a family to take care of him would be a moot point.

“Where about did Charlie say to look?” she scooted closer to the map.

“This area here,” Sinn traced out an area with the tip of her finger. “The map isn’t very forthcoming with details though.”

“Yeah, even the satellite views on maps can be pretty non-existent for a lot of places around here. Just not much call for it when most of it is off the beaten track and there are no roads.” Leaning closer still, Waverly studied the area and rifled through everything she knew about it. “That area there… I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere about there being a mine opened up there once. Doc might even have heard of it as it was back when he and Wyatt were in the area.”

Lifting her head, Waverly looked between the two women, seeing the interest quite literally alight in their eyes with the prospect of getting to the Jötnar so they could make everything right and return home.

Waverly found that while she was looking forward to one, them being out of her life didn’t hold the same appeal even though they’d only known each other for a short amount of time. As with Nicole, she felt calm around them, more in control and like herself.

“An abandoned mine definitely sounds like something the Jötnar might be interested in, don’t you think, my love?”


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short update to prove that I haven't given up or abandoned this one yet :p

“I hate the cold… I hate the cold… I hate the cold.”

Meeting Waverly’s eye, Nicole rolled her eyes as the virulent grumbling coming from Sinn who was trudging ahead of them floated down to their ears despite the wind whipping in the other direction. Nicole had to agree with Sinn, even with the multitude of thermal layers protecting her, it was a soul-sucking chore to put one foot in front of the other through the thick snow.

What made the going worse was not knowing what lay beneath the snow… as Sinn found out as she suddenly toppled sideways in slow motion, her arms windmilling all the way before she vanished into a pile of snow that billowed up, leaving at least five curse words, some of them in languages Nicole was pretty sure she had never heard before, hanging in the air.

Nicole looked at where Sinn was struggling to regain her feet and made the mistake of meeting Waverly’s eye again. Nicole wasn’t sure what Waverly saw on her face but if it was anything like the wide-eyed shock on Waverly’s she obviously found it funny as her eyes crinkled in delight and her shoulders started to shake up and down until her head nearly vanished beneath the edge of the ginormous scarf she had wrapped around her neck and insane amount of times.

A perfectly aimed snowball thudded against her chest startled Nicole out of her laughter and Waverly deeper into hers as they watched the frozen crystals slide and fall to the ground.

“Next one goes right for the face if you don’t get me out of here, Haught,” Sinn warned as she smoothed her next projectile between her hands threateningly.

“Weird time to be making snow angels, Sinn,” Wynonna threw her arm across Waverly’s shoulder, using her to keep upright even though she nearly pitched them both off balance as she smirked down at Sinn. “And your technique leaves a lot to be desired.”

Sinn lobbed the snowball in her hand at Wynonna’s smirk and accepted the hand Nicole held out to her.

“Ow! Jeremy quit shouting in my goddamn ear,” Wynonna griped and poked at the small device lodged in her ear. “Man, I’m regretting not letting Haughtshot have this thing… Jeremy, inside voice… We’re up to our vaginas in snow out here… yes, I said va-gine-as,” she drawled the word out as Jeremy made a stricken sound in her ear.

“I did not need to know that, Wynonna.”

“Tough titties, Chetri. That’s what you get for wanting to test your little gizmos on us.”

“It’s not exactly new tech, Wynonna, I just used my skills to amplify—”

“Chetri, I’m about two seconds and one more nerd word from tossing this thing into the nearest pile of snow.”

“No! Don’t!”

“Then speak to us nerd. Why are you interrupting our pleasant stroll through the frozen wilderness?” Hiding a smirk, she ignored the grumbles coming from Sinn as Yoanna brushed the snow from places snow had no right to be getting.

“I was wondering how near you are to the mine?”

“Not as close as we would like to be thanks to the whole snow up the hoo-has sitch.” She grinned as he let out another strangled groan. “How are the boys doing?”

“Agent Dolls threatened me quite virulently and, might I add quite unnecessarily in my opinion—”

“Jer,” Wynonna growled warningly.

“No Jötnar or anything else trying to stop them,” he rushed out before she could get inventive with her threats. “They’re having trouble from where they are too though. He did say though that the weather looks like it’s coming in hard?”

“Yeah,” Wynonna looked back over her shoulder, her troubled gaze taking in the sight of the dark, roiling clouds moving their way. They all seen them but there was little they could do other than try to keep ahead of it.

Deep within the inky darkness of them, she could see lightning sparking and lighting them up from within like the gods she didn’t believe, or maybe Chris Hemsworth in all his Thor glory if she was lucky, was throwing a major league hissy fit.

“Listen to me, Jer. You need to get ahold of Nedley and get him to put a warning out. Beg him, pull jurisdiction with your badge, hell, bribe him if you have to. And then you get somewhere safe, you hear me? Do not go out in this when it gets close to Purgatory.”

“You’re scaring me, Wynonna.”

“Good. You should be.” She knew she was pretty damn scared for all of them.

“What about you and the others?”

“Well, we’re going to put a stop to it so the good folks of Purgatory can bitch about having their time wasted again instead of them ending up as people-popsicles.” She heard him gulp audibly over the coms. “I’ll let you know when we get closer.”

“Sinn, you are bleeding, my love.” Crouching down, Yoanna prised Sinn’s hand away from where she was pressing it against her leg midway up her calf. The smell of blood was strong on the cold air.

“Yeah, scraped it on a rock when I was making snow angels. It’s fine, not too deep.”

“Let me—”

“No!” Sinn wrapped a hand around Yoanna’s wrist as she moved her glove out of the way to bite her own flesh. “I’ll be fine, Yoanna.”

“But—”

“Listen to me. This is nothing compared to what I’ve had to deal with before but if you bite your wrist and it doesn’t heal like it would normally…” she left what could happen to her hang unspoken in the air, the thought of putting it into words too painful. “I’m not going to risk losing you over anything let alone something like a damn scratch so you just keep your blood where it belongs.”

“Let me check it out and patch you up,” Nicole shrugged her backpack off her shoulders and quickly fished a first-aid kit out.

“Damn, Haught! How many hatchets are you packing in there?”

“Three,” Nicole shrugged. “My main one, my backup, and my backup to my backup. What? It’s Purgatory, Wynonna. I’ve learned to carry a lot of shit in my backpack.”

“You and Nicole are kindred spirits,” Yoanna chuckled as she thought about the sheer number of weapons she had seen Sinn managing to pack into her jacket before they’d left. And she knew her Sinn, there would be far more that she hadn’t seen.

“Hey, pays to be prepared.”

Sinn winced as Nicole probed at the long cut on her let. It wasn’t gaping or even bleeding too heavily any more but the look in her brown eyes told her what she’d already guessed… really she needed stitches unless her ability to heal kicked in. But rather than say anything, Nicole pursed her lips tightly together and bandaged her up. But then, what other choice did they have? They’d all seen the weather closing in on them and they all knew even if they hadn’t said it, that this was their one and only shot at putting an end to it. If they waited any longer there was no amount of thermal clothing in the world that would help if they were caught outside.

Definitely some ‘Day After Tomorrow’ bullshit going on.

Sinn tugged the leg of her pants back down again, covering up the long bandage from the elements and Yoanna’s gaze as Nicole packed her first-aid kid away. “Thanks, Nicole.”

“I would say, ‘any time’, but I would prefer it if I never have to take this kit out again.”

“I’m with you on—” Sinn broke off, her hand reaching out and called her sword to her hand as a growl rumbled down through the trees quickly followed by the sharp retort of gunfire.

With her own gun drawn, Nicole quickly shrugged on her backpack as her eyes scoured every gap in the trees around them. Waverly swung her shotgun around beside her, the back and forth motion of her weapon matching that of Wynonna on her other side with Peacemaker that glowed a fierce yellow along the long barrel even though there was nothing they could see with their naked eye.

Another roaring growl like several avalanches coming together with an earthquake echoed around them but the weather and the landscape made it impossible to tell if anything was near and coming for them or if the still distant sound of gunfire was the true indication of where the action was.

“How far to the mine, Tator-Haught?”

“Quarter mile tops.”

“Dolls! Doc! Can you hear me? Eric! Damn it!” Wynonna jabbed at the small coms in her ear in frustration as though poking it into her brain would help. “Chetri!”

“Hello? Yes— Jeeze that’s some bad static on the line, hold on while I try and clear it up!”

“That’s not static, Jer! Can you reach the guys at all?”

“Hold on!”

Grabbing Nicole and then Yoanna by the shoulder, Wynonna gestured to say they needed to get moving. Staying put was leaving them vulnerable and whatever was going on, the boys sounded like they needed help.

“So much for plans!” She growled.

“Wynonna! I can’t get through to them!”

Wynonna cussed violently. Really, she’d already guessed but it would have been nice to have been wrong.

It had been Dolls’ idea for them to split up. And at the time it hadn’t seemed a terrible idea as the split was for them to act as a backup and sweep any stray Jötnar their way using flamethrowers and stop any from escaping while the rest of them had the more dangerous task of keeping them contained while Sinn and her sword did the work.

What they hadn’t allowed for was stupidly the one thing they knew was screwed up… the weather. They had either made better time through the snow to their planned position or the Jötnar had seen them first.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Why does everything have to go wrong?!” There was no answer and she didn’t expect one as they were all too busy trying to forge their way as fast as possible through the unforgiving landscape.

All they had to deal with was a storm closing in…

Snow threatening to freeze their hoo-has shut…

And god knows what waiting ahead of them.

Just a normal day in Purgatory!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^^^ Sinn


	45. Chapter 45

Nicole kept her head on a swivel as they moved as fast as they could up the steepening incline through the trees towards the mine.

It was too dangerous to move through the thick blanket of snow laying across the ground with their weapons drawn as each plunging step was one of blind faith backed with a quiet prayer that there was nothing below the innocuous looking snow that was going to trip them or send them plunging down a hole. Nicole missed the weight of her gun and the feel of the grip in her hand but it would only have hampered her and put them all at risk.

Her foot slipping against a buried root or god alone only knew what else had Nicole gritting her teeth in frustration as her fingers grasped at the slender trunk of a poplar and used it to steady and propel herself forward again.

Not one word was spoken by them as they pushed and pulled each other over the unforgiving landscape. Even Wynonna, usually the last to give up her sass and inappropriate quips, had been made mute by the slog and their concern for their friends as they strained to hear each dwindling retort of gunfire above the pounding of their hearts and the rushing of their blood in their ears.

As they finally cleared the last line of trees, the gunfire had long since ended, leaving them with the howling of the wind as it cut through the trees and the rock-strewn clearing between them and the dark, uninviting entrance to the abandoned mine.

Instead of slowing, they moved faster across the more level ground, drawn by the sight of the flamethrower the boys had had with them laying in a crushed and mangled heap but even more so by the too blight splash of colour in the snow before them.

Blood!

Nicole had seen more than her fair share of crime scenes, both mock ones at the Academy set to test them, and ones that were all too real since then. She knew how to read them but it was all but impossible to know what had happened for sure as the ground was too churned over.

Had they been ambushed?

Had they come across something and decided to take a chance at taking the Jötnar on themselves?

Why hadn’t they tried to contact them or Jeremy?

Were they still alive?

Which one of them had been the first to be wounded and leave the drops of blood that had melted into the snow?

Was that the same person whose blood was weakened and diluted into a pale pink where the snow had been churned over?

Was it the same person who had left a thicker trail of blood behind in dark smears through the snow in a deep drag mark that led straight towards the mine entrance?

Nicole glanced to the others but there was no need to ask ‘what now?’ as even though things had gotten more urgent in a hell in a handbasket, up shit creek without a paddle kind of way, nothing had really changed.

The storm was still closing in on them and Purgatory from all sides. And even if it wasn’t, there was no way they were going to withdraw and come up with another plan or more people to act as backup. Not while Dolls, Doc and Eric were in immediate danger.

Nicole had no idea what kind of mine they were stepping into, though she was very sure that Waverly would have researched the hell out of it already. She could almost see the knowledge glistening behind her eyes as they stepped over the hastily pushed aside rubble of rocks and rotten beams of wood into the oppressive darkness.

The beams of their torches cut through the darkness, pushing it back only so far.

“Don’t fire in here unless you’ve got no other choice,” Waverly whispered, angling her torch up to indicate the rotting wood barely supporting the roof and walls of the tunnel.

“Well, isn’t that just wonderful,” Wynonna grumbled under her breath sardonically as she slipped Peacemaker back into her holster again. “Looks like it’s down to you then, Sinn.”

“Not quite.” Not wanting to elaborate in case Mikshun decided to turn on them if she knew about the second weapon at their disposal that could subdue it in Waverly’s mind. Or run the risk of exposing it and drawing attention to Nicole if the Jötnar had a way of spying on them, Sinn moved closer to the walls of the tunnel, a frown furrowing her brow as she studied it by the light of her torch.

The air around them was so cold and dry that every breath hurt but the tunnel walls looked damp and slimy. Stripping off a glove she went to touch it but stopped herself before her skin could make contact when she felt the cold radiating off it so fiercely it felt like her skin might blister with it.

“Ice.”

The walls and roof of the tunnel looked like they had been doused in water and frozen in an instant.

“Guys, we need to move,” Nicole whispered urgently as she looked back at the entrance of the mine in growing fear.

Just in the time it had taken them to get that far, the weather had closed in and a freezing fog was billowing slowly into the mine and starting to edge closer and closer to where they stood. And as she could see the mine entrance growing smaller and smaller as ice formed around the edges of it, Nicole didn’t want to risk the fog touching them.

The good news was that once the entrance became sealed, it would act as a barrier to keep the cold out.

The bad news was that when that happened, they would be sealed into the mine by a wall of ice.

With a hand to the small of Waverly’s back, Nicole gently but urgently guided her ahead of her. Her eyes glanced back as they moved deeper to see what became of their way out even though the main danger lay ahead. She entrusted the others to keep their eyes on that but she couldn’t fight the compulsion for the other until she saw the gap finally close off, sealing them in.

It wasn’t until she started instinctively working her jaw in an effort to unblock her ears that Nicole realised how eerily quiet it was now that the wind couldn’t follow them deeper into the mine. And she wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or not as it made her aware of how loud her breathing was… the scrape and sound of her boots upon the gravelly tunnel floor… and the lack of sound from ahead.

Most notably any sound that could lead them to the guys or even hint that they were still alive.

“Shit!”

Nicole would have been tempted to slap Wynonna on the shoulder for her overly loud whisper but one glance at what had caused it and she was in agreement. Shit, indeed.

The steady slope downward came to an abrupt end at what might have once been a chamber roughly the size of two basketball courts. But where there were hints that it might have once been a solid floor, it had crumbled away leaving a drop that the light from their torches couldn’t reach the bottom of.

“Did anyone see the slightest gap in the walls or anything on the way down?”

“No,” Wynonna grumbled again. “I guess the Jötnar could have sealed something up behind them though?”

“No,” Yoanna stated unequivocally, “they went this way.”

“How in the hell can you be sure—”

“The blood,” Sinn whispered. “She can smell the blood.”

“Human blood has… a unique scent compared to anything else. To a Vampire anyway. More importantly, this blood is alive.”

“Blood from a dead body smells and tastes like death to a Vampire. Even from a body that has only just passed. This is good,” Sinn assured the others. “Bleeding isn’t good, and the danger isn’t over, but whoever was bleeding was alive when they got this far and we are going to do everything we can to make sure they stay that way and that we all get out of this.”

“Great. Wonderful. Loving the enthusiasm. But. How do we get down there to do that though, Sinn?”

“That’s where my rucksack comes in handy again, Wynonna.”

“Teleportation device?”

“No—”

“Parachute?”

“No!” Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Nicole reached into her rucksack and pulled out a neat coil of… “Rope… I always keep some and a harness or two handy for impromptu weekend excursions—”

“Oh, I just bet you do, Haught-to-Trot!” Wynonna winked knowingly at Nicole and her baby sister.

“Earp!” Nicole swore she could feel her ears starting to glow in the dark she was blushing that hard.

“’Nonna, behave,” Waverly gave Wynonna’s shoulder a slap to admonish her for her teasing. “Anyway, we keep stuff like that well away from anywhere you might look.”

“Waves!” Nicole whined.

Grinning at Nicole’s embarrassment, Waverly gently cupped her cheek and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Sorry, just couldn’t resist. You look so adorable when you blush.”

“’S’fine,” Nicole smiled softly against the curve of Waverly’s lips.

“Not to break the moment guys but, this is a hell of a drop,” Wynonna peered over the edge, squinting against the darkness as she willed the bottom to reveal itself. “Are you sure you’ve got enough rope for this?”

“Waves?”

Wynonna frowned in confusion for a moment as Waverly picked up a rock… and then wondered why she’d wasn’t her effort on the frown ‘cause of course if there was anyone that was going to be able to toss a rock over the side of a chasm and work out down to the nearest inch just how much rope would be needed… it was going to be her super-brained baby sister.

Working as quickly and as safely as she could, Nicole got the two ropes she’d brought with her set up and secure and went through all the safety procedures with them. She had been climbing for years and what to do in an emergency had become second nature. They hadn’t, and she didn’t want to think what might happen if, god forbid, something happened to the ropes and they pulled the rope in the wrong direction and ended up plunging to the ground instead of coming to a safe halt.

Nicole wasn’t sure how the others felt as they went first but as her feet finally touched the icy ground at the end of the rope, she realised she had been so on edge expecting _something_ to happen with how the boys had been ambushed, that nothing happening at all, was almost a let-down. It felt wrong to feel that way but it was like waiting for the other shoe to drop, seeing an accident about to happen and watching a horror movie and knowing there was a jumpscare about to happen any second, all rolled into one.

Sweeping her torch around, Nicole pierced the darkness with the powerful beam, looking for the slightest sign of danger as well as trying to work out their next move. Above there had only been one direction to move in but down there, from just where her torch reached, Nicole counted six roughly hew arches that let off from the chamber they were standing in. And there was no way to say if any of them led anywhere or if they were the one they needed to go down.

“Yoanna can you smell—” her question remained unfinished as a bellowed cry of deep pain and anguish echoed up from one of the tunnels near them. And although she had never heard anything like that from the man, Nicole knew it was Dolls it had been pulled from.

Nicole didn’t wait for any signal from Sinn, she simply thought about the sword, her sword, and felt the perfectly balanced weight of it form in her hand like it belonged there.

“What the—”

“Later, Earp!”

As she watched Nicole heading into the tunnel that still echoed with Dolls’ cry, Waverly froze for a moment as something dark felt like it was twisting and turning within her in anger. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to move and chased after Nicole before she got out of sight. Many on Purgatory just saw her as little more than a smile and a wave, or maybe someone to go to when research was needed, but Nicole saw her as more than that and she wasn’t just going to be something for everyone when Nicole told her time and again that she was so much more than she even thought of herself.

She saw it then as Nicole reached back. At first glance, she thought that Nicole was offering her a hand to help her keep up or to hold her back, but instead, Nicole was holding out one of her hatchets so she could defend herself and be useful in whatever fight lay ahead.

_Take that dark twisted corners that say I’m nothing but a liability!_

Nicole turned off her torch as they moved deeper through the tunnels. Whatever had made them it wasn’t human hands, they were too big, too smooth to have been carved out when the area was being mined. And Nicole wasn’t sure if it was something that ran through the walls or the ice that coated them but the walls glowed, negating the need of anything else to light the way.

The one very troubling part about the glow… apart from everything to do with anything glowing down there… was that it was the same blue as the Jötnar’s eyes! She could see Sinn at the back of their group with Yoanna, her sword naked in her hand as she looked around too, her eyes shone brighter than ever as though in competition with it.

A bellow from further behind them had Sinn turning on her heel in mid-stride, her eyes raking down the tunnel to the brighter shine of blue bobbing up and down. “Go!” Sinn called back over her shoulder. “I’ll hold this one back!”

The last that Nicole saw of them before she got swept onwards by the tide of Wynonna and Waverly, was Sinn leaping at the two Jötnar that rounded the bend in the tunnel with Yoanna at her side.

She hated to leave them! But she knew that there was no choice right then. The cries from ahead were growing more frantic and ragged; Doc and Eric’s pain-filled cries adding to Dolls’. And from what she had seen of Sinn and Yoanna… they were more than capable of taking care of themselves even if whatever powers they had were depleted.

An inhuman cry echoed out behind them, its bellow abruptly cutting off as a wave of blue pulsed outwards to buffet them.

“One down!” Wynonna crowed in victory. “A shit ton more to go…” she trailed off as they rounded a corner and found themselves on the edge of a cavern even bigger than the one they had descended into with at least five Jötnar within surrounding three figures that looked far too tiny and helpless sprawled at their feet. “Welllllll, fuck me!” she mumbled under her breath as she drew Peacemaker.


	46. Chapter 46

They hadn’t been spotted… not yet… but there was no time to consider the dangers of using their guns, the Jötnar were too far away for Nicole to get to them to use her sword and they were too great in number to hope to draw them all off as a several of the creatures lifted thick limbs that looked like they were made from chunks of ice as big as small cars and fists as big as pickups with the intent of crushing their friends.

They were bigger than the one Nicole had seen before. Much bigger!

Blazing blue eyes turned their way, roars of anger backed up by blasts of ice pelting them as Peacemaker and Waverly’s trusty shotgun barked out, knocking two of the creatures off balance.

The distraction worked… enough for Doc and Eric to be able to scramble to their feet and start to drag Dolls to safety.

The ground suddenly rolled beneath their feet and Nicole heard Wynonna and Waverly’s startled cries echoing around the cavern along with her own as she hit the ground hard, her right shoulder and the side of her head slamming into the thick ice beneath them. For a moment she was sure she was seeing things thanks to the force of the blow to her head but even as she blinked and pushed upright on trembling arms, the blue was still right there beneath the ice.

Twin points of blue travelling beneath them, gathering speed and pushing the ice upwards in a rippling wave as it rushed towards the Jötnar. The ground exploded in a plume of ice and rock and out of it the blue orbs rose, shining with bright malevolence from the misshapen, craggy mass of ice that passed for a head as the newly formed, or reformed, Jötnar stepped forth and let out a bellowing roar.

Nicole felt herself being tugged and yanked off the ground by urgent hands and blinked at the concerned gazes of Waverly and Sinn. She winced as Waverly’s fingers gently probed at her left cheek and she saw the blood shining on her glove.

“I’m okay, baby,” she rushed to assure her. “Sinn, what? How?”

“Managed to take one out but that bastard just vanished into the ice before I could get it. You okay there, Wynonna?”

“I would feel a hell of a lot better if Peacemaker worked on them,” Wynonna huffed as she accepted Yoanna’s offered hand and was smartly yanked to her feet. “Geez, you’re just a freakishly strong tiny amazon like Waves, huh?”

“Possible concussion?” Yoanna mused in concern at Wynonna’s rambling.

“She’s always like this,” Waverly assured them with a dismissive wave of a hand.

“She really is,” Nicole added. Sass was Wynonna’s go to in every situation, stress just made it worse.

“There ain’t no one like me,” Wynonna huffed. “Oh, you know what else would make things better? If we had some industrial sized flamethrowers or a ride-on one with heated seats—”

“And cup holders!”

“Flamethrowers are good. Maybe flamethrowers would stop them from doing whatever the hell that is!”

Well used to the banter between the Earp sisters, Nicole quickly focussed on Wynonna’s last bit of outburst and snapped around, fighting through the brief wave of dizziness with widening eyes as she took in the strange sight of the Jötnar filling the air between and around them with a thick, icy fog.

Crystals of ice formed, clinging to their bodies and with roars that sounded a little too satisfied with events, they grew. Their bodies becoming taller and wider.

“That is entirely unfair!”

“If they make it outside we won’t stand a chance with all the cold to gorge themselves on,” Sinn growled.

“Then we’d best make sure the shit-tickets don’t make it out then. Ready to act as a distraction without the use of a crop top for once, Babygirl?”

“’Nonna, I am more than my abs!”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then. You good to slice and dice, Haughtstuff?”

“Yeah?”

“Sound a bit more confident, Haught! If you let us get turned into amazing looking ice sculptures I am going to come back and haunt all your sorry asses!”

“Yoanna,” Sinn laid a gentle hand on her wrist before she could follow the other two in their reckless dash across the ice. “See if you can make it to Eric and the others. See if they’re up to joining this fight.”

Taking the guns Sinn held out, Yoanna pressed a quick kiss to her chilled lips. “Take care of yourself… both of you.”

“You took one out… Any advice, Sinn?”

Sinn glanced at the woman at her side. Despite the fact that their ages were close, then more than ever, Sinn felt the weight of everything she had been through in her life weighing heavily on her shoulders and wished she could spare her new friend from having to go through this. She could see the toughness and determination in her eyes though and knew, without a shadow of a doubt that she was the kind to stick around and help the Earp’s beat their curse. Sinn couldn’t save her from that. But she could help get her through this fight.

“Go for their eyes. That last one, I took it off at the legs and it came back. Eyes, that takes them down for good.”

“Think we’re going to win this?”

“I know we are, Nicole.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“I would _do_ anything, _give_ everything I have to keep her safe,” Sinn nodded in Yoanna’s direction, a soft smile curving her lips despite the dire situation. “And I can see the same fire burning in your eyes, Nicole, you would do no less for Waverly. We will win because we have to, for them.”

Sinn’s words resonated through Nicole. She had known from the moment she had seen Waverly Earp, that she would do anything to keep her safe, even her last breath… And, if she had known that her ‘dreams’ were actually their souls meeting long before their eyes touched, she would have made that vow much sooner.

Nicole tightened her grip on the sword in her hand resolutely and nodded to the woman at her side.

“Let’s do this!”

Her words were strong and demanding of the kind of action that would have translated on the big screen in a slow-motion charge across a battlefield with a rousing score swelling in the background. But the reality was much slower as they moved carefully into the best position to make use of the others distractions to strike out.

Apart from a couple of sparring sessions with Sinn, Nicole had no real experience or training with a sword but, with the first swing of the one in her hand that had shards of ice spilling out like blood and brought the nearest Jötnar to its knees for Sinn to strike at its eyes, it was as though a long-dormant muscle memory she hadn’t even been aware of possessing had unlocked within her.

Off to the side, she was half aware of Wynonna making some kind of quip about her being a walking sword-wielding lesbian stereotype, and Waverly letting out something that sounded a little like a purr of appreciation, but by then she was busy looking for the next best target.

They wheeled and danced around the monsters out to destroy them and remake the world, using their bulk against them as they dodged blows from massive limbs and blasts from icy breath that tore at their clothing. Around them, the others worked, dodging and releasing taunts and blasts from their weapons to keep the Jötnar from regrouping and repairing the damage done to their bodies.

Nicole could feel the sweat coating her body, running down her face in rivulets too hot for even the cold there to touch. Her grip on her sword… her sword… Hers!… she claimed it completely, flexing her fingers on it. So sure in her hand, its edge singing as it sliced through the air and another blue orb dimmed and went out.

Water flowed from the tip of her sword, dripping to the ground as she pulled back from what was now a pile of melting snow and ice. It made the ground even more perilous, taking away their ability to dodge as it went from something their boots were designed to grip upon to slippery as fuck, to dirt in patches.

“Nicole!”

Nicole heard Waverly’s warning scream too late to dodge out of the way even if her feet weren’t slipping and sliding around. A massive fist caught her in a blow to the side that she could only imagine was pretty much like being sideswiped by a truck. It tossed her through the air, sending her tumbling until she slammed into the ground and rolled and rolled until Nicole wasn’t sure if she felt nauseous from the tumbling or if something had been damaged within her.

But then, maybe it was a sign of something worse seeing as she was thinking about things like that too much instead of moving away from the creature looming over her with its foot raised over her head like it was about to squash it like a bug?

“Nicole! No!”

The anguish in Waverly’s voice ripped Nicole out of her stupor.

She rolled, the ground shaking as the Jötnar’s foot smashed into the ground where her head had been less than a split second before. Not done it tried again but Nicole knocked it back with the force of a hastily thrown up shield.

The Jötnar roared in frustration, its bellow almost drowned out by the bark of the gunfire that blasted it in the massive barrel-like chest and stomach. There were no features on its craggy face to get a sense of any human emotions but Nicole could feel the hatred in the blue eyes that looked down on her.

It knew it was over.

Knew it was the last one and that the fight was done.

But it wasn’t going to go down without taking her with it!

Nicole’s hand scrambled across the ground for her sword as the gunfire seemed to take on a desperate intensity. The flashes from the muzzles shining off the Jötnar and lighting up the sight of Sinn.

As her friend struck, her sword cutting across both of the Jötnar’s legs, Nicole stopped reaching blindly for her sword and called it to her hand. Instantly the weight of it was there, poised perfectly with her hand and she thrust it upward, aiming for the burning blue of its eye as the Jötnar toppled forward onto her.

Everything fell to darkness and cold.

The weight crushing against her whole body.

Nicole was sure she was going to feel the pummeling of the Jötnar’s fists against her body but it remained still and even started to yield as the lack of air had her thrashing in growing panic.

“There!”

“Nicole!”

Warmth flowed down Nicole’s hand and arm. Focussing she realised it was a familiar hand holding hers and that she could hear the sounds of scrabbling and scraping all around her.

“Haught! Shield your way out! Picture it! Deep breath and push!”

“She’s not giving birth!”

“Earp! Not the time!”

“Do it, baby!”

The breathing in part was all but impossible and darkness was creeping in around the edges of her consciousness but Nicole focussed her mind on what she wanted… God, there was so much she wanted! A life with Waverly… To wake up each day with her in her life… To forever be her bonus blanket… To take her all the places she had never gone before… To just listen to everything that was on her beautiful, brilliant mind… To have children together… To make a home and fill it with life and laughter… For them to be married…

None of which she would ever get to have unless… She. Got. Out. From. Under…!!!!

Suddenly the pressure was gone… until the breath only just returning to her lungs was forced out by a much slighter weight falling against her as warm lips scattered kisses over her face while hot tears landed upon her.

“Jerk!” Sitting up, Waverly landed a thudding swat against Nicole’s shoulder. “I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered brokenly, cupping the fine line of Nicole’s jaw gently, leaning down she captured her lips.

“Love you too, Waves.”

Trying to ignore the love fest going on at their feet, Wynonna tilted back her head and held out her tongue to capture flakes of snow that was falling around them after Nicole had blasted herself loose.

“Erm, Earp?”

“Hmm?”

“You do realise that you’re eating Jötnar remains right now?” Sinn smirked as Wynonna’s blue eyes flew wide and she started retching and scraping at her tongue.

“That was mean, my Sinn.” Smiling softly, Yoanna brushed the ‘snow’ off Sinn’s shoulders and tried not to frown too much as she took in the many scrapes and bruises on seemingly every inch of exposed flesh. “I’ll be glad when we are home and I can put a different kind of bruise on you.”

“We’ve got to get out of here first,” Sinn grumbled. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to climbing up that rope after that workout.”

“Is it really over, Nicole?”

Nicole tucked a stray strand of hair back behind Waverly’s ear. “It feels like it is,” she looked around the cavern, trying to place what felt different, what it was that made her so sure that the threat truly was over. “It feels warm again.”

“Warm!? This is warm?”

“Yep,” Wynonna chortled at the look of disbelief on Sinn’s face. “Crop top weather, right Waves?”

“You Canadian’s are wild,” Sinn muttered with a shake of her head. “You okay there, Dolls?” Crouching down, she checked out the wound on his side as Doc and Eric patched him up.

“He will be,” Eric assured her. “Took a hell of a knock up there saving my life and got skewered for his trouble.”

Sinn clasped Dolls on the shoulder in sympathy for him getting hurt and gratitude for saving Eric. She saw the understanding in his dark eyes and the small nod he gave in return. With what had happened in their past, forgiveness was not something that Sinn gave easily but she was trying.

They made their way back out of the caverns and tunnels of the mine, never quite letting down their guard as they helped each other overcome wounds and bone weary tiredness. Even if the Jötnar were gone, they knew there were more demons that called Purgatory and the Ghost River Triangle their home and any one of them would just love to take advantage of their exhaustion.

Sinn kept a wary eye on Waverly the whole way, watching closely to make sure that Mikshun didn’t try anything now that their agreement was over, but apart from one brief moment where she thought she saw Waverly’s eyes turn black and an appreciative smirk cross her face as she looked at the misshapen piles of melting snow and ice that were all that remained of the Jötnar… there was no sight of the demon trying to take her over.

_Keep fighting, Waverly Earp! You’re stronger than it is!_

The sky was clear as they left the mine. The stormy clouds peeled back to reveal a perfect blue and, miracle of miracles, the sun.

“Yep,” Wynonna smirked. “Crop top weather.” Her smirk turned to a laugh at Sinn’s expression. “We’ll convert you yet, Sinn!”

“It has taken me the better part of a year to convince her that clothing comes in more than just black.”

“Black is very practical. It…”

“… Hides the blood.” Wynonna finished with her.

“Now, that worries me,” Nicole muttered quietly under her breath, glancing nervously between the two women as they shared a bonding moment.

“… Mel! Mel! Oh, thank god!” Eric clutched the phone tighter, waves of relief washing through him at the sound of her voice. “Are you okay?”

Nicole couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation but she could tell by the relief in his eyes and body that killing the Jötnar had worked at the mansion too. While they talked, she relieved Eric of Dolls’ weight and helped him sit… with only a small amount of protesting… so she could check on the bandage wrapped around his torso. The climb out had started the wound bleeding again, if it had even stopped in the first place. Blood leaked out from beneath it, shining against the darkness of his skin.

“I’ll be okay.”

The sight of the Purgatory Volunteer Fire Department’s truck forging a path toward them through the rapidly melting snow was a bizarre but welcome sight for Dolls’ sake. No matter how stoic and tough he acted it was obvious that he needed help getting to the nearest hospital so he could be patched up.

Nicole didn’t like the way they, especially their leader, Ewan, looked at Waverly like they were thinking of using their fire axes on her. The sight of the sword she hadn’t even been aware of calling on, naked in her hand once more and the matching blade in Sinn’s had them easing up on their attitude and had Waverly coming out from where she had been almost cowering behind the protection of their bodies.

“What is their problem?”

“Bunch of jacked up hose draggers.”

“You okay, Waves?”

Mikshun glared defiantly at the back of the fire truck as it drove away. It knew the evil the Order had wrought upon the rest of its kind and knew they were looking for them. They were safe within the girl though, even if it was so very exhausting trying to keep control. The Order might suspect but with the heir to protect them, they had time.

So long as they gave the half-elf and the vampire no reason to act. Feeling eyes watching its vessel, Mikshun backed away and allowed Waverly to have control for the time being.

“Waves?”

Waverly clutched at Nicole’s jacket as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

“Hey, you okay?”

“I- yes, just a little tired.” She relaxed into the curve of Nicole’s body, allowing the strength of her to seep into her bones as the sword in Nicole’s strong hand rested against the length of her spine, comforting, warming… cleansing.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you will be able to tell from the chapter count... the next chapter will be the last one.  
> Yayy, then I'll just be down to 3 WIP's (((dancing around)))


	47. Chapter 47

Nicole looked around in confusion. She knew where she was but she couldn’t remember how she had come to be in the barn at the homestead when the last thing she could recall was falling asleep with Waverly in her arms at her home after they had beaten the Jötnar.

There was a moment of disconnect and then the pieces fell into place.

She knew it was one of their shared dreams. It had to be. But it felt so much different than they usually did. Usually, their dreams continued on from where they were when they had fallen asleep and they slowly came into focus as though waking into the dream. But beyond each other and the knowledge of been in bed together the details were blank unless they wanted it to be otherwise as all that mattered was each other.

This time though it is almost as clear as when they had found a moment of comfort together in the real barn not long after Willa had been returned.

_Maybe she was really dreaming?_

Dreaming about dream walking? Not something she had ever done before but she guessed there was always a first time even if the thought didn’t sit so well as when they dream walked together that was special and not something she wanted to be sullied by self-doubt as to what was real or not.

Nicole glanced around the barn, deliberately avoiding looking where she really wanted to for the moment. The air in the barn was warmer than it had been for a long time in Purgatory… warmer even than the day that moment in time was based upon. A light perfume mixed with Waverly’s scent hung in the air, while motes of dust swirled and danced upon the beams of light making their way through the cracks in the slats that made up the barn to lend a dreamy quality to the scene laid out before her.

The one thing that was definitely out of place was the sword hanging on the wall beside her. She touched the blade with the tips of her fingers and felt the comforting hum of power running through it.

Waverly’s voice reached out across the distance between them. She sounded just as soft and lost as she had that day.

“I’m exhausted.”

“Hey,” pushing off from the barn wall she had been leaning against as though propelled into action by the familiar words as well as the need to comfort her love, Nicole moved to Waverly’s side and sat beside her so she was facing her.

Nicole felt like she was swimming through a dream tangled with the memories of that time and what she had come so close to happening that day. Only, she wasn’t sure if the memories were hers or Waverly’s, but Waverly looked just as lost. Nicole found herself leaning closer, watching as she gently teasing that silky soft hair back with the lightest brush of fingers to expose the delicate line of softly scented flesh that she ached to explore and tease. “I know, baby,” she whispered gently. Ever so softly, Nicole pressed a comforting kiss to the side of Waverly’s throat just below her ear.

Waverly turned her head, her eyes fluttering shut as she instinctively searched for the warmth and comfort of Nicole’s touch like a flower turning towards the sun. With each tender caress of lips, Nicole could feel the urgency spreading through her, the heady tingle and heat radiating through her body from low, low down across her abdomen and from every place Waverly’s soft lips and hands touched.

No matter how often they were together in this place or anywhere else, it never ceased to amaze, Nicole just how quickly Waverly could undo all her control and turn her into a being of pure need just with the lightest of touches or kisses.

Their kisses grew more eager, hands sweeping aside clothing. They reached the moment where Nicole remembered their kisses been forced to end because Willa had entered the barn. There was no Willa this time though to turn good to bad and as their kisses continued, Waverly’s eyes searched for hers, looking for confirmation that they really were together and Nicole realised that Waverly hadn’t been sure either.

“I’m here. I got you, Waves. I love you so much, baby.”

“Nicole—”

Nicole held Waverly close as she let out a broken sob that felt like it was stabbing straight through her heart. “What’s wrong, baby?” She tried to ease Waverly back but the younger woman buried her face against her, short nails dragging desperately at her back as though she wanted to vanish into her. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“I messed up. I touched the goo! Wynonna will be so pissed when she finds out! She’s always telling me not to touch the goo and I did!”

“Goo? Baby, what goo?”

“At the gateway… where Wynonna killed Willa. There was a pool of blackness there and I heard it calling to me and I touched it. Now it’s in me, trying to eat me up and make me do things… Terrible things.”

“We should tell, Wynonna.”

“No!”

“Waves—”

“Please, Nicole. I can feel what it wants. It wants to spread. To grow in number. To be legion again and take over. It can’t touch you though. It- it tried but it says that you’re too pure and it hates that. And it hates that I can fight it because of how much I love you.”

“Then… what do we do? What can I do to help you?” Nicole tried to ease Waverly back so she could look into her eyes but she whimpered and clung to her so desperately as though terrified of being cast away.

“I’m safe in here, with you. It doesn’t know we can do this. Once I’m awake though it knows what I do. I’m fighting like crazy… I really am,” Waverly sobbed. “I need your strength to help me though… I need you in here where I know we’re real. Help me create a safe space here and…”

“And what, baby? I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

“I need you to forget.”

“What?” Nicole frowned in confusion at the strange and impossible thing Waverly wanted.

“Just for now… once we leave this place. I want you to remember what we do here to help you stay strong and safe against what it might make me say or do but not that thing, you can’t remember that thing. If it thinks for one second you know about it… I’m scared about what it will do… what it will try and make me do. And if I lose you… it will kill me!”

“Waverly!”

“Please, Nicole… just for now. You’re my strength and I need that to help me fight. If you can’t do this though I’ll… I’ll erase your memory of this and stay away from our dreams to keep you safe!”

“Damn it, Waves!” Nicole barked out at the threat her love was facing… had been facing. Cupping Waverly’s face in the warmth of her hands, Nicole gently encouraged her to meet her eyes.

The pain and terror on Waverly’s face was heart-breaking to see and she knew she would do anything to erase that look.

“I don’t even know if it’s possible for you to do any of that… but I’m not letting you take my memories of you or take this on all alone, Waves. As long as you want me, I’ll be by your side.” Kissing the tip of Waverly’s nose, Nicole teased a hopeful smile from her. Dipping her head further, Nicole shivered as Waverly’s breath teased across her lips as light as a feather. “Each touch, every kiss… don’t you dare forget any of them.”

Waverly sighed in pleasure and need as Nicole lowered her back against the bed now under them as the dream room shifted to the more familiar setting of their bedroom. Her head fell back against the pillows, her eyes shuttering in pleasure as Nicole settled her weight between her eagerly spread thighs, her hips canting forward.

“And Waves…”

Waverly forced her eyes open against the pleasure of Nicole’s rolling hips stealing her ability to function at such a level. In her eyes, she caught the reflection of Nicole’s sword hanging on the wall above their bed and felt comfort in its presence. But it was the unwavering loyalty and love on Nicole’s gorgeous face that gave her the most comfort and spread heat through her body.

With Nicole looking at her like that, Mikshun stood less of a chance than the Jötnar had.

“Yes, baby?” Cupping Nicole’s face, Waverly stroked her thumbs lovingly across her cheekbones, setting her brown eyes alight with love.

“You better have a damn good memory then ‘cause I’m going to fill every night with a million touches and a million kisses. Then, when we beat this thing, and we will… there will be even more because you, Waverly Earp, deserve the world.”

Capturing Waverly’s mouth in a deep kiss, Nicole poured all her love into her, hoping, praying, determined to make sure she would never doubt or forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


End file.
